Amendments made to Part III (Labour Standards) of the Canada Labour Code (the Code) that came into force on September 1, 2019, were introduced to support work-life balance by providing employees with more predictability in relation to their hours of work.
However, in order to balance the operational realities of certain industries with the legislative goal of providing employees with work-life balance, permanent exemptions from new hours of work provisions relating to scheduling have now been finalized. This includes exemptions and modifications in relation to the following hours of work provisions for certain job classes:
• 96 hours’ written notice of work schedules
• 24 hours’ written notice of shift changes or additions
• a rest period of 8 consecutive hours between work periods or shifts
• an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes during every period of 5 consecutive hours of work
As of February 1, 2022, the Exemptions from and Modifications to the Hours of Work Provisions Regulations for federally-regulated road transportation, postal and courier sectors will come into force.
The following table summarizes the final exemptions and applicable job classes, found in Canada Gazette, Part 2, Volume 155, Number 18: Exemptions from and Modifications to Hours of Work Provisions Regulations.
Exemptions were applied in these sectors as relevant employee classes' scheduling depends on unpredictable factors (i.e. customer orders, traffic and weather conditions, mechanical failures) that the employer cannot reasonably predict within enough time to apply the new provisions and reflect limitations around the ability of drivers to take breaks and rest periods at specific times or places. These sectors are already subject to the Commercial Vehicle Drivers Hours of Service Regulations administered by Transport Canada which regulate duty times and rest periods.
If you have any questions about the Hours of Work Provisions, please do not hesitate to contact Levana Huang, BCTA Policy Analyst at LevanaH@BCtrucking.com.