Employment Standards Assignment

1. What is the Employment Standards Act?

The Employment Standards Act and Regulations is effective in most BC workplaces with the minimum standards
of wages and working conditions.
Who is not covered by this act?
-Independent contractor
-Member of a union
-Workers under the Federal Governments Labour Standards (government, armed forces, etc.)
-Certain professions and workers

2. Minimum Wage:
Are there two minimum wages? Explain. What are the new minimum wages going to be?
Yes, there is a separate minimum wage for liquor servers due to the Liquor Control and Licensing Act. The general
minimum wage use to be $10.45, it raised up to $10.85 in September 2016. The liquor server minimum wage raised
up to $9.60 from $9.20 on the same day.

3. Minimum Daily Pay:

What is the minimum amount of hours that you are paid if you show up for work, even if the boss sends you
home?
The minimum payment is two hours every work day, even if you showed up for less.

You are scheduled to work an 8-hour shift then the boss asks you to work another 2 hours. How many hours must
s/he pay you for?
The employer must pay at least four hours of work to employees.

You show up for work and work 1 hour before a power failure happens so the boss sends the entire staff home.
How many hours must the boss pay each employee for the day?
The employee must be paid for either at least two hours or the actual time worked, whichever one is greater.
How many times a month must your boss pay you?
Employees must be paid twice a month by their employers.

4. Work Breaks:
How often does an employer have to give you a 30-minute meal break?
Employees cannot work for more than five hours without a 30-minute meal break.
How many coffee breaks does an employer have to give you?
Employers do not have to provide coffee breaks.
What is a split shift?
A split shift is when a workers word period is split into two or more parts. There must be a split shift within 12
hours.
5. Paydays and Payroll Records:
You were paid for the months of January on the 3rd and 18th and for February on the 10th and 14th. Is the
employer allowed to do this? Explain your answer.
Yes. Since every pay period is 16 days, and employers have a maximum of eight days to pay their workers. Although
there are 23 days between the 18th and the 10th, you got paid seven days after the pay period, so its alright.

What must appear on your written or electronic pay statement (pay stub) each pay period?
For written: name, address, worked hours, wage rate, worked overtime rate, any money/allowance/other
payments, amount and purpose for deduction, gross and net wages, amounts withdrawn from the workers time
bank and how much remains.
Electronic: Confidential access to the electronic wage statement, a means of making paper copy of that wage
statement.

What is vacation pay? How much is it?

An employer is paid 4% of what the employee earned in the previous year when the employee goes on his/her
annual vacation earned from last year. If the worker completes five years, the percentage raises up to 6.

6. Overtime:
You earn $10 per hour. What would be your gross pay (before taxes) if you worked:
10 hours in one day? $110 30 hours in one week? $300
7.5 hours in one day? $75 50 hours in one week? $150

7. Uniforms and Special Clothing:

You work in a mill where you are required to wear hearing (ear) protection, steel-toed boots and safety (eye)
goggles. Who must pay for this equipment?
Since this equipment is special clothing, the employer has to provide it, and keep it in a good state of repair,
unless an agreement is made. The employee is free of charge.

You work in a restaurant where you are required to wear tan coloured pants, a black collared shirt, belt and casual
shoes. Who is responsible for supplying the outfit? Explain
The worker him/herself will be, since this outfit is not special clothing.

You work at a golf course and are required to wear a white shirt with the company logo on it. You must also wear
dark coloured pants or skirt. Who is responsible for supplying the outfit? Cleaning it? Explain.
Everything else other than the white shirt is the employees responsibility to supply it, since the white logo shirt is
a special piece of clothing. Unless an agreement is made between the employer and the majority of affected
workers, the employer is in charge of cleaning it. If there is an agreement, this applies to all workers.

8. Deductions:
What deductions must you pay (or have come off your cheque)?
Required deductions include income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions and Employment Insurance
premiums.
What deductions are optional (your choice) to have come off your pay cheque? Provide examples.
Union or profession dues require a written permission from the employee.
9. Statutory Holidays:
What are the two (2) conditions that you must meet in order to be paid for a statutory holiday?
To be eligible, the employee must have been employed for 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday and have
earned wages half of the days before it.
How much do you make per hour if you work a statutory holiday? Time and a half plus the average pay

10. Leaving the Job:

Do you have to give your employer advance notice that you are quitting your job?
It is not required by the Act.
Why would it be a good idea to let them know?
So this gives the employer time to give you your final wage.
What does being laid off mean?
The worker is let go of not due to performances, but other causes.
When would you get terminated?
When rules are broken, a group termination, etc.

What are some reasons that an employer can fire you? Does the employer have to give you notice that you are
being fired?
Incompetence, attendance issues, and breaking company rules can all get your employer to fire you. The
employer does not need to give you notice if the employee hasnt completed three consecutive months of work,
the employee is hired for a definite term, etc.

If you are fired how long does the employer have before s/he must pay all your wages?
The final wage must be paid to the worker within 48 hours after the last day worked.

What is a Record of Employment (ROE)?

Record of Employment is a record providing information on employment history. It is the most important
document used by workers in establishing a claim for EI.

11. Vacation Information:

You just started a full time job so how many weeks of holidays will you be entitled to in your first year? Two weeks
After 4 years Three weeks

12. Protecting your rights:

Why is it a good idea to record the date, time and details of an incident that may have occurred at your work?
If it is a serious incident, it may be good to keep a record in case it may become a piece of evidence.

Why do you think it would be a good idea to keep a record of the days and hours you have worked?
-Just in case you work overtime
-to check if you were payed the exact amount
13. Explain why it is your responsibility to know your rights as a worker.
It is your responsibility to know since no one else has the responsibility to tell you. Everyone has the responsibility to
know their own rights since youre the one looking after yourself. Employers may not know the full rights of workers, so
you as a worker must know your own. When someone/something is bothering your rights, you can correct them and
point of the mistakes. You have rights to protect for yourself.