Month in Review – Nova Scotia
LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Minimum Wage
Apr 1: Nova Scotia raised its general minimum wage by 20 cents to $15.20 per hour. That’s still the lowest minimum wage in the Atlantic Provinces and the second lowest in all of Canada ahead of only Saskatchewan at $14.00 per hour.
Action Point: Find out about the latest round of minimum wage increases taking effect across Canada
Labour Relations
Mar 1: The Nova Scotia Labour Board issued a revised Information Bulletin on how employees who file OHS Act complaints and don’t have a lawyer or professional representation can use Board Navigators to help them deal with the complaint process.
Labour Relations
Mar 19: In the unlikely event that it passes, newly tabled Private Member Bill 435 would make it illegal for government and private employers to hire scabs and take reprisals against workers for refusing to perform work that’s ordinarily done by a worker that’s currently on strike.
Employment Benefits
Mar 25: Nova Scotia’s 2024 Budget Bill (Bill 419), which is currently in Committee, amends the Pension Benefits Act to extend the current right of plan members and former members suffering from life-shortening disabilities to unlock their pensions to retired members. The Bill would also allow former members who aren’t retired to withdraw their entitlement from the plan when they cease to be a Canadian resident for at least 2 years.
New Laws
Mar 25: The Budget Bill making its way through the Nova Scotia Assembly includes a new act called The Professional Firefighters Volunteer Act which bans organizations from refusing to employ, disciplining, terminating or otherwise punishing an individual because they work or intend to work as a volunteer firefighter.
Action Point: Find out how to discipline employees without committing reprisals or retaliation
Accessibility
Mar 15: The government said that it’s reviewed the independent review of the Accessibility Act and will take action to address its recommendations, including by developing and enacting accessibility standards, supporting public sector organizations to update and implement their accessibility plans and increasing communications and engagement.
Action Point: Find out more about accessibility laws across Canada
Health & Safety
Mar 1: Nova Scotia’s work injury rate increased from 1.36 to 1.38 per 100 workers during the third quarter of 2023, the WCB reports. Days lost to workplace injury was 260 per 100 covered workers, as compared to 292 in the final quarter of 2022, thanks to progress in the long-term care, home care and disability support sectors.
CASES
Labour Relations: Direct Communications with Union Employee Violates Collective Agreement
With union relations at a low ebb, a lumber company began writing directly to employees criticizing the union’s actions and questioning the competence of certain union officials. Start acting in good faith or we’ll stop deducting and remitting union dues from employees’ paycheques, the company threatened the union. The union cried foul, contending that these actions violated the company’s duty under the collective agreement to recognize and respect the union. The Nova Scotia arbitrator agreed and awarded the union damages. The company won the next round when a review court quashed the arbitrator’s ruling. But the union got the last laugh when the province’s top court, the Court of Appeal, concluded that the original arbitration award was reasonable and reinstated it [United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada, 2024 NSCA 27 (CanLII), March 7, 2024].