As of January 1st new labour laws have come into effect in Alberta, causing mixed reactions across our city. 

"It's unfortunate that most small businesses do not have the larger human resources to fully explain the changes," said Linda Bruce, President of the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce.

Some of the most prominent changes to labour laws deal with maternity and parental leave rules. Under the new changes, mothers taking maternity leave will now have 16 weeks instead of 15 weeks to accommodate the one week wait time for Federal Employment Insurance. Those looking to take time off for parental leave can now take up to 62 weeks off to raise their child. Bruce said it is important for business owners to prepare for the possibility of an employee requesting parental leave. 

"Like any of the changes it's important for business owners to sit down with their financial people and look at the dynamics of their employee base and understand what those changes could mean."

Another big change to the law that has some employers concerned involves statutory pay. Under the new law, employees are entitled to general holiday pay of an amount that is at least their average daily wage, even if they don't work on a stat holiday, such as New Year’s Day.

"Smaller businesses are often not situated well enough to take on those extra costs. It's often hard to pay out those wages when there is no revenue coming in," said Bruce.

Bruce said the new changes are complex and may catch many local Airdrie business owners off guard.

"I think for the smaller businesses and the medium size businesses it's going to take lots of owners by surprise. There are so many new changes it can be overwhelming and it's going to take a while to work your way through all the changes."

You can read more about the new labour laws here.

 

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