CAALL — Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation
CAALL Bulletin - May 2009
Table of Contents
- Highways Workers Focus on Safety as Part of NAOSH Week in Saskatchewan
- Ontario Committed to Eliminating Workplace Injuries
- Memramcook Achieves Pay Equity in Nouveau-Brunswick
- Temporary Help Agency Employees Obtain New Rights in Ontario
- Claims Management Solutions in B.C.
- New Albertan Guide Helps Employers Plan Ahead in Case of a Future Pandemic Influenza
- Ontario Government Provides Job-Protected Leave for Living Organ Donors
- Parliament/Legislatures/Assemblies
- Upcoming Events
Highways Workers Focus on Safety as Part of NAOSH Week in Saskatchewan
As part of the North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, Highways and Infrastructure employees in Regina were treated to a presentation by CTV anchor Carla Beynon on the need for caution while working in the Orange Zone.
Prior to her broadcast career, Beynon suffered serious fractures to her back while working as a flag person in Alberta. She was picking up pylons along the Trans Canada Highway near Banff when a driver shot ahead and pinned her against a semi-trailer highway tractor.
The Ministry has a very busy construction season this year with $630 million being the largest budget in its history. This means a greater likelihood that motorists will come across Orange Zones this season where maintenance and construction of roads and bridges is being undertaken.
The Ministry is committed to providing safer workplaces through better equipment and training. Whether clearing snow and ice in the winter, or rehabilitating highways and bridges throughout the rest of the year, highway workers are at risk of being injured on the job while ensuring the safety of Saskatchewan's 26,000-km highway network. New student hires are provided with a two-day safety training orientation. NAOSH week events help to reinforce the safety message for both workers and the public.
Ontario Committed to Eliminating Workplace Injuries
The province of Ontario is working towards a safer workplace for all by focusing on the protection of young and new workers throughout the month of June.
During the blitz, health and safety inspectors will check that young and new workers are being properly trained, supervised and meet minimum age requirements. Inspectors will focus on a wide range of service and manufacturing work sites and review activities like tree planting, landscaping and painting. They will examine personal protective equipment and machinery safeguards, and look for hazards that could cause falls or musculoskeletal disorders.
The blitz is part of the Safe At Work Ontario compliance strategy, announced in July 2008, to reduce workplace injuries.
Memramcook Achieves Pay Equity in Nouveau-Brunswick
Memramcook has become the first francophone municipality in New Brunswick to achieve pay equity.
Social Development Minister Mary Schryer, who is also minister responsible for the status of women, made the announcement at Memramcook town hall. She was joined by Mayor Donald O. LeBlanc and municipal councillors.
Minister Schryer said that the province has been making significant progress in reducing the wage gap between women and men.
Other initiatives to eliminate pay inequity in New Brunswick have included or will include:
- Tracadie-Sheila is implementing a pay equity process;
- Quispamsis has achieved pay equity for its employees, as announced March 16;
- significant job evaluations have been conducted in the public sector, with hospital workers leading to pay equity adjustments;
- job evaluations are being conducted for child-care workers, home support workers and transition home workers; and the government has committed itself to introducing during the spring session of the legislature a new Pay Equity Act that will apply to all parts of the public sector.
Temporary Help Agency Employees Obtain New Rights in Ontario
The province of Ontario has passed legislation to ensure that temporary help agency employees are being treated fairly and have better opportunities to move to sustainable employment.
The Employment Standards Amendment Act (Temporary Help Agencies), 2009 passed in May and will come into force six months after Royal Assent.
The Act will deliver more fairness for low-income temporary help agency workers by:
- making sure that they are not unfairly prevented from accessing permanent jobs when employers want to hire them from agencies;
- prohibiting temporary help agencies from charging fees to workers for things such as resume writing and interview preparation;
- guaranteeing that employees have the information they need about their assignments including pay schedules and job descriptions; and,
- requiring agencies to provide employees with information about their new rights under the Employment Standards Act.
The government will also propose a regulation to ensure that "elect-to-work" employees have the right to notice of termination and severance pay.
Claims Management Solutions in B.C.
On May 11, 2009, WorkSafeBC launched a new online Claims Management Solutions (CMS) system to streamline and manage the claims process more effectively, and improve service to customers.
CMS manages all data related to previous, current, and future claims and helps integrate the services throughout the life-cycle of a claim.
It will result in faster case handling and claim payments, more support for injured workers, and less administrative work for employers and service providers.
New Albertan Guide Helps Employers Plan Ahead in Case of a Future Pandemic Influenza
Although the risk on most worksites is low, the Alberta government is proactively releasing Best Practice Guideline for Workplace Health & Safety During Pandemic Influenza. It provides information to workplaces on hazard assessment and control in preparation for and during pandemic influenza.
The document is intended to serve as a guideline to all workplaces. It provides information on legislated requirements, best practices and strategies in workplace health and safety and employment standards in the event of pandemic influenza.
Information includes:
- how pandemic influenza is different from seasonal influenza;
- guidelines to assess pandemic influenza exposure in the workplace;
- how to develop a workplace emergency response plan for pandemic influenza; and,
- direction for implementing workplace controls.
Alberta Health and Wellness, Alberta Employment and Immigration, Alberta Emergency Management Agency and other Alberta government departments continue to work together to ensure a coordinated response to any potential pandemic influenza. This is part of the government’s ongoing emergency preparedness work.
Copies can be found online at http://employment.alberta.ca/SFW/136.html#bp002 or by calling toll-free 1-866-415-8690 (780-415-8690 in Edmonton and area).
Ontario Government Provides Job-Protected Leave for Living Organ Donors
Living organ donors in Ontario will soon have the benefit of job-protected leave.
Ontario has passed amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to provide unpaid job-protected leave for employees who donate certain organs to another individual. The amendments come into force upon proclamation.
The legislation builds on the $4 million announced in 2007 to implement an Organ Donation Strategy. The strategy includes the establishment of the Program for Reimbursing Expenses of Living Organ Donors, a fund that will reimburse living organ donors for certain eligible, out-of-pocket expenses and lost income associated with their organ donation.
Living donation has many advantages such as reducing wait times and patient suffering, increased transplant success, and reduced health costs.
Parliament/Legislatures/Assemblies
| Adjournment date | Resumption date | |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta | June 3, 2009 | October 26, 2009 |
| British Columbia | General Election May 12, 2009 |
|
| House of Commons | June 19, 2009 | September 14, 2009 |
| Manitoba | June 11, 2009 | September 14, 2009 |
| New Brunswick | June 19, 2009 | November 24, 2009 |
| Newfoundland-Labrador | May 28, 2009 | |
| Northwest Territories | June 4, 2009 | October 15, 2009 |
| Nova Scotia | May 4, 2009 | General Election June 9, 2009 |
| Nunavut | June 18, 2009 | November 24, 2009 |
| Ontario | June 4, 2009 | September 14, 2009 |
| Prince Edward Island | May 15, 2009 | |
| Québec | June 18, 2009 | September 15, 2009 |
| Saskatchewan | May 14, 2009 | October 21, 2009 |
| Yukon | May 14, 2009 |
Upcoming Events
| Event | City | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Worker's Compensation Board's of Albert Annual General Meeting | Calgary, Alberta | June 18, 2009 |
| 58th Annual Conference, Assocation of Labor Relations Agencies (ALRA) | Oakland Marriott City Center, Oakland, California | July 18-22, 2009 |
| B.C. Municipal Occupational Health and Safety Conference | TELUS Convention Centre, Whistler, B.C. | September 13-15, 2009 |
| 68th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association Administrators of Labour Legislation (CAALL) | Delta Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | September 21-23, 2009 |
| Distribution of awards innovation in occupational health and safety | Centre des sciences, Montréal, Quebec | October 22, 2009 |
| 8th Annual Alberta Health & Safety Conference and Trade Fair | Calgary Stampede Round Up Centre, Calgary, Alberta | October 26-28, 2009 |
| Grand Rendez-vous en santé et sécurité du travail | Palais des congrès, Montréal, Quebec | November 3-4, 2009 |
| Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) Forum III | Gatineau, Quebec | March 8-9, 2010 |