Employment Standards

Employment Standards Actions

Employment Standards Officers have several ways in which they can establish if an employer is following the Employment Standards Code and Regulations. Section 77 of the Employment Standards Code RSA 2000, Chapter E-9 grants Officers significant powers when investigating or inspection. Essentially, an Officer can enter your business premises, search for, and seize records and question employees. These employment standards actions can have a considerable impact on your business.

An interaction with Employment Standards can occur in several ways. An employee or former employee may file a complaint seeking earnings, an employee or member of the public may call in a “tip” that an employer is contravening the legislation, or you may have a history of contact with Employment Standards that would trigger some type of enhanced compliance.

Complaint Resolution Process

If you are subject to a complaint against your business, Employment Standards should follow the Complaint Resolution Process.

Initially, attempts will be made to resolve the complaint informally. While this may sometimes feel like the best thing to do to save your time, you need to understand the impacts of that decision. The employee may not be owed any money at all, or on many occasions not as much as they believe they are entitled. For that reason, it is important to understand if the employee is entitled to earnings. If you understand and accept what is being claimed is owed, voluntary resolution may be the most effective way to resolve the claim.

If you disagree with the claim being made by an employee and you are unable to mediate a resolution, it may be necessary to proceed through the complaint investigation process. An Employment Standards Officer will be assigned to investigate the claim. During the investigation you will likely be required to produce records to support you position. This could include time records, contracts, pay stubs, and any other employment record.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the Officer will usually make a finding. This could be that the employee is owed money, or in many cases the employee is not entitled to further earnings. If it is determined the employee is entitled to earnings the employer will usually be given the option to voluntarily pay the amount determined to be owed to the employee by the Officer. It is important to note the Officer has the authority to negotiate a settlement between the employer and the employee and in many cases will do this to achieve a quick resolution to the matter. As the employer if you do not reach agreement with the Officer, they can issue an Order to pay the amount they determined to be owed to the employee. The employer can appeal this Order.

If the Officer determines the employee is not entitled to earnings, the will issue a decision to the employee stating they are not entitled to earnings. The employee can appeal this decision.

Appeal Process

An appeal is a request to reverse or modify an Employment Standards decision resulting from a complaint investigation, compliance enforcement measure
or administrative penalty

An employer appeals to the Alberta Labour Relations Board. Upon appeal the employer must remit the full amount of the Order, including the 10% fee assessed by the Officer. This money is held in trust pending the outcome of the appeal process. An employee would appeal to the Director of Employment Standards. There is no fee or payment made by an employee to file an appeal.

All appeals must be made in writing within 21 days after the date a party is served with a notice from Employment Standards.

If you have received an Order of Officer of compliance action from Employment Standards, Mission Workplace Consulting can provide assist you navigate this process

Call (403) 615 9709 or email pmincher@missionworkplace.ca