B.C. Employment Standards Act: Quick Reference, 2011 Edition

Description:

• The biggest news is undoubtedly the March 16, 2011 announcement concerning changes to British Columbia's minimum wage (B.C. Reg. 67/2011). For most employees, the minimum wage will increase to $8.75 per hour on May 1, 2011. In addition, the training wage of $6.00 per hour will be repealed. The minimum wage rate will increase twice more, to $9.50 on November 1, 2011 and to $10.25 on May 1, 2012. A separate minimum wage of $8.50 for employees who serve liquor will take effect on May 1, 2011. This rate will increase to $8.75 on November 1, 2011 and to $9.00 on May 1, 2012. This rate applies only to employees whose employment duties include regularly serving liquor directly to customers, guests, members or patrons in premises for which a license has been issued under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act. Workers who are covered by different minimum wage provisions in the Regulations will receive corresponding increases on a percentage basis.

• In 2010, the ESA and the Regulations were amended by B.C. Regulations 131/2010 and 169/2010. The most significant of these changes was the addition of s. 101.1 to the ESA. This new provision enables a person to request in writing that the Director of Employment Standards conduct a search of records maintained by the Director for information in respect of a person named in the request, related to contraventions of the ESA or the Regulations, or to complaints or investigations made under the ESA. The Director may, upon receiving the prescribed fee ($35 as established by the new s. 51 of the Regulation) conduct such investigation and provide resultant information to the person who made the request. A minor change to ESA s. 119(7) was made to reflect the new changes to rules of civil procedure in B.C. Further minor amendments were made to s. 127(2), which included the repeal of subsection 127(2)(p.1), the substance of which is now included in the amended subsection 127(2)(p). The Regulations were amended in two, relatively minor ways. Already mentioned is the new s. 51, which sets the administrative fee for a records search under s. 101.1 of the ESA at $35. The only other change to the Regulation was a minor amendment to s. 31(l) to reflect that podiatrists are now governed by the Health Services Act. Registered podiatric surgeons remain excluded from the ESA by operation of this section of the Regulations.