LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Pay Transparency

May 8: New Brunswick passed pay transparency legislation (Bill 24) requiring employers to include salary ranges in job postings, banning use of salary history in hiring, and protecting employees from reprisals for discussing their wages. Employers must also submit annual pay transparency reports to the Pay Equity Bureau listing pay differences among women, Blacks, and other “equity groups.”

Action Point: Find out how to implement a Pay Transparency Compliance Game Plan at your workplace.

Leaves of Absence

May 8: Newly passed Bill 26 amends the Employment Standards Act to provide employees with more than 90 continuous service unpaid long-term illness and injury leave of up to 27 weeks during any 52-week period. Employees must notify the employer “without delay” of the anticipated leave start date and duration. Leave must be taken in periods of at least one week and employers may require a certificate of a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, or midwife certifying that the employee is incapable of working due to illness or injury.

Action Point: New Brunswick is just one of the many provinces that have changed their sick and long-term illness leave laws since the pandemic. Find out how to implement a legally sound Sick Leave Compliance Game Plan at your own workplace.

Training

May 21: The new Canada–New Brunswick Workforce Tariff Response program will provide $13.8 million over three years to support workers in the softwood lumber, mining, construction, transportation, and other sectors affected by tariffs. To be distributed by WorkingNB, the money will go to unemployed workers to gain new skills for in-demand jobs, workers whose employers are participating in Work-Sharing agreements providing for upskilling or retraining, and employed workers seeking new skills to improve their resiliency within companies directly affected by tariffs.

New Laws

May 5: Newly tabled Bill 39 proposes to increase the New Brunswick Small Business Investor Tax Credit rate for corporate investors from 15% to 25%, raise the maximum threshold of eligible corporations’ net tangible assets from $40 million to $50 million to broaden access to the program, and make convertible debentures a new eligible funding vehicle. For non-strategic sectors, the maximum investment limits of $250,000 for individual investors and $500,000 for corporate investors would remain unchanged.

New Laws

May 12: Newly introduced Bill 41 would enable local governments in New Brunswick to establish for-profit corporations to generate clean energy and profit from the sale of renewable energy. Under current legislation, local governments may construct, own, and operate a generation facility within their boundary for their own purpose, or sell the electricity to a consumer or a distribution utility. This includes renewable energy projects such as solar, wind, and hydro. The proposed legislation would facilitate such ventures.

New Laws

May 28: Comments closed on proposed regulations to implement the new Free Trade Within Canada Act providing for recognition of goods, services, and occupations from other provinces as meeting equivalent regulatory requirements in New Brunswick.

New Laws

May 1: New Brunswick expanded the Practice Ready Assessment program, which helps internationally trained physicians become licensed to practice in the province, from 10 to 14 spaces. Offered through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick, the program enables candidates to participate in a 12-week clinical field assessment under the supervision of licensed physicians who evaluate their readiness, skills, and suitability. Successful candidates must sign a three-year return-of-service agreement with the government.

New Laws

May 8: Newly passed legislation (Bill 33) makes it easier for out-of-province tradespeople to work in New Brunswick via automatic recognition of certificates of qualification or equivalency from other provincial and territorial apprenticeship authorities. It also eliminates the requirement for certified tradespersons from other provinces to apply for an equivalent certificate and pay the associated $150 fee, as well as the fees for registration ($25) and prior learning assessment ($100) fees charged to apprentices registered in Canadian jurisdictions outside New Brunswick.

Action Point: Find out about the 5 ways the new interprovincial free trade and labour mobility regulations will impact HR operations.

Workplace Violence

May 8: Legislation (Bill 27) making it easier for victims of intimate partner violence to sue for money damages passed Third Reading. Since 2010, there’s been no statute of limitations on filing civil lawsuits for trespass to the person, assault, or battery for acts of a sexual nature. The amendments expand this to include non-sexual harm that occurred in an intimate personal relationship or in a situation where a person was financially, physically or emotionally dependent on the person who harmed them.

Action Point: Find out how to protect your employees from the risk of workplace domestic violence.

Workers’ Compensation

Apr 23: WorkSafeNB adopted the electronic Worker’s Application for Compensation Benefits and Employer’s Report of Injury or Illness (E67) as the preferred method for workers to submit claims and employers to report OHS injuries electronically.

Workers’ Compensation

May 1: WorkSafeNB’s Policy 21-220 Medical Expense Related Travel setting out the meals, transportation, and hotel allowance schedule for workers traveling outside New Brunswick to receive medical treatment for a work-related injury or illness during the current fiscal year took effect.

CASES

There are no cases to report on this month.