Labour Standards Regulations in Canada

Some employees in Saskatchewan are subject to unique overtime laws.  Highway construction workers are entitled to overtime once 100 hours of work is completed in a two-week period.  Fire fighters, ambulance attendants, oil truck drivers, and some city newspaper workers have special overtime rules3.  

Manitoba

Similar to Saskatchewan, Manitoba uses simple variables to calculate overtime.  If an employee works more than eight hours a day, or exceeds 40 hours per workweek, he or she is entitled to overtime pay.   However, unlike Saskatchewan, an employer in Manitoba does not have to maximize the overtime pay in order to favour the employee.   Standard hours of work In Manitoba are eight hours a day or 40 hours a week3.  Exemptions to this must be claimed through a collective agreement or an Hours of Work order.  Also, an employer cannot force an employee to work overtime3.  

The Manitoba overtime rate is also 1.5 times the hourly rate of a specific job after eight hours of work in day or 40 hours per week.  The only exception to this rule is if an employee and employer agree, in writing, to paid time off instead of collecting overtime.  Paid time off must be taken within three months of when it was earned.  

Similar to Saskatchewan, not everyone is entitled to overtime pay.  Agricultural workers, fishers, those who work in fur farming, dairy farming and horticulture; workers who work less than 24 hours a week for the same employer, in-home child care providers, and companions attending primarily to the needs of elderly or ill people are some of the workers who do no receive overtime pay.  

Construction workers, crown employees making more than $34,497 a year, department of highways workers, transportation, and workers in correction camps are some of the workers whom are partially excluded from the overtime legislation of Manitoba5.  

Maternity Leave

Saskatchewan and Manitoba

Maternity leave in Saskatchewan is granted to full or part-time employees who are actually employed and have been working for, at the minimum, 20 weeks of the 52 weeks before the leave is set to begin7.  Once the leave is granted, a childbearing mother is entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid maternity leave.  A maternity leave can begin during any time of the 12 weeks before the assumed date of birth.  If there is sufficient medical reason with proof, an employee can extend her maternity leave up to a maximum of 6 weeks.  

Maternity leave in Manitoba is granted to employees who have worked for an employer for seven months.  An employee is entitled to 17 weeks of maternity leave, which can be extended by the equal time needed to accommodate a late birth.7

In order to receive maternity leave in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, an employee must give her employer four weeks notice before the actual day of her leave is to begin.  The notice must include the day an employee plans on leaving, a medical certificate indicating the estimated date of birth, and the assumed day of return back to work7.

Employees on maternity leave do not get paid their regular wage.  Employees can still receive employment insurance benefits such as dental, life insurance, disability, medical, accidental death or dismemberment, retirement savings plans, and pension plans7    

Once an employee returns from a maternity leave, an employer is not allowed to utilize any type of pay or pension cut.  Once an employee returns from a leave, she is entitled to the same annual holidays she would have received before the leave7.  Also, it is illegal for an employer to fire, suspend or lay off an employee for being pregnant.  

Equal Pay

Saskatchewan and Manitoba

        In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, male and female employees are entitled to equal pay when they perform similar work8.  This, of course, is only applicable if the employees are in the same work establishment, subject so very similar work conditions, and require similar skill, effort, and responsibility.  "Similar" means "resembling in many respects" or "alike", although not necessarily identical. Exceptions can be made where payment is based on a seniority or merit system

        Equal pay is not the same as pay equity.  Equal pay relates to similar jobs within an establishment.  Pay equity compares the value of different jobs within the establishment.  

When comparing Saskatchewan to Manitoba in regards to overtime, maternity leave, and equal pay, it can be concluded that Saskatchewan’s labour standards are slightly more favourable to the employee.   In terms of overtime in Saskatchewan an employer must pay the employee overtime for anything over eight hours a day or 40 hours per week or which ever is more favourable to the employee.   Conversely, in Manitoba an employer only has to pay overtime for anything over eight hours a day or 40 hours per week.  Concerning maternity leave, female employees in Saskatchewan are entitled to more initial leave compared to Manitoba, which is 18 weeks compared to 17 weeks.   In both provinces, sufficient extensions to a maternity leave are available.  Equal pay is addressed the exact same way in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  These very small differences between the Manitoba and Saskatchewan labour standards lead to the conclusion that Saskatchewan’s system is slightly more favourable to the employee.  

        

Labour Standards Regulations

Saskatchewan vs. Manitoba 

Assignment 1

Commerce 386(01)

Jeremy Kweens: #586246

October 7th, 2004

        

        

                

        

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