Sorry, folks, my bad - already being discussed here:
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/56502.0.html
One more up to the plate - when's it Ontario's turn????
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Section 29, of the Copyright Act.
Updated labour rules promise job protection, unpaid leave
CBC News online, 31 Jan 07
Article Link
Workers in Manitoba could find new job protections and more unpaid sick and family-related days when the province revamps its Employment Standards Code, the first such update in 30 years.
Labour Minister Nancy Allan said Wednesday that the province will introduce a number of amendments to the code in the upcoming legislative session. The changes are expected to come into effect April 30.
"We decided what we needed to do was have a major review of the legislation," she said.
Manitoba hopes to follow Nova Scotia's lead and help reservists with legislation that protects their civilian jobs and benefits while they perform military service.
"They deserve job protection," Allan said. "They're risking their jobs and they're risking their lives, and so I think that they deserve to have their jobs and their benefits in place when they come back to Canada."
The province also hopes to protect young workers by restricting work hours for those under 16 years old, as well as introduce legislation prohibiting those under 18 from working alone at night.
Other changes to the code include:
* Better statutory holiday pay for part-time workers
* Three new unpaid days off for illness or family responsibilities
* Three new unpaid bereavement days
* Termination notice rules that are graduated, based on workers' years of service
Some employers have already expressed concerns about the graduated termination notice rules and the unpaid days, said Shannon Martin, Manitoba director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
"Depending on your years of service, you may have to give an employee up to eight weeks notice before terminating that employee," he said Wednesday.
"On the other hand, an employee, regardless of their terms of service, still only has to give two weeks notice."
Unpaid leave could worsen labour shortage: Martin
Martin said with Manitoba's labour shortage, the addition of more unpaid days off could be bad news for business.
"The vast majority of them already offer their employees flexible time to address their family needs. What they take exception to is when government imposes those demands on them," he said.
"Being forced to give employees unpaid leave, you're only going to add to the fact that we have a productivity problem."
Allan countered that other provinces with labour shortages offer the same amount of unpaid leave to their workers, and both employers and employees have managed to cope.
"If your employees know that if they're having a problem in regards to coming into work — because they have a sick child or they have a serious illness in the family — they can be honest with their employer and explain to their employer that they need a day off and they don't have to phone in to work and lie," she said.
"I think it'll be a healthier work environment for both the employer and the employee."
Details of the changes to the code will be reviewed by the province's Labour Management Review Committee, a group made up of business and labour representatives.