BILL 40

An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1 Section 28 of the Employment Standards Act, chapter E-7.2 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 1982, is amended

aby repealing the portion preceding paragraph (a) and substituting the following:

28 Despite anything in this Act, an employer shall not suspend, lay off, penalize, dismiss or otherwise terminate the employment of an employee or impose disciplinary measures or discriminate against an employee if the reason for the suspension, layoff, penalty, dismissal, termination of employment, disciplinary measures or discrimination is related in any way to

bby repealing the portion following paragraph (c) and substituting the following:

or if the suspension, layoff, penalty, dismissal, including termination of employment, disciplinary measures or discrimination constitutes in any way an attempt by the employer to evade any responsibility imposed on the employer under this Act or any other Provincial or federal Act or regulation or to prevent or inhibit an employee from taking advantage of any right or benefit granted to the employee under this Act.

2 The Act is amended by adding after section 44.027 the following: 

EMERGENCY LEAVE

Emergency leave

44.028( 1) If it is necessary in the opinion of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, an employer shall grant an employee a leave of absence in any of the following circumstances: 

awhen the Minister of Public Safety declares a state of emergency under the Emergency Measures Act in respect to all or any area of the Province;

bwhen the Governor in Council declares a public welfare emergency, a public order emergency, an international emergency or a war emergency under the Emergencies Act (Canada);

cwhen the Governor in Council makes an order under section 58 of the Quarantine Act (Canada);

din any circumstance relating to

( i) a notifiable disease prescribed by regulation under the Public Health Act or declared to be a notifiable disease in an order of the Minister of Health or the chief medical officer of health, as the case may be,

( ii) a notifiable event prescribed by regulation under the Public Health Act, or

( iii) any other threat to public health.

44.028( 2) A leave of absence referred to in this section shall be granted in accordance with the regulations.

3 Section 44.04 of the Act is amended

ain subsection (1) by repealing the portion preceding paragraph (a) and substituting the following:

44.04( 1) An employer shall not suspend, lay off, dismiss or otherwise terminate the employment of an employee who has been granted a leave of absence under this Act

bby repealing subsection (3) and substituting the following: 

44.04( 3) Despite subsection (2), if an employee would have been suspended, laid off, dismissed or otherwise had his or her employment terminated had the employee not been granted a leave of absence under this Act, the seniority of the employee

aceases to accrue as of the date the dismissal, including termination of employment, would have occurred had the employee not been granted the leave of absence, and

bdoes not accrue during the period of the suspension or layoff that would have occurred had the employee not been granted the leave of absence.

4 Section 85 of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (b.1) the following: 

b.11respecting a leave of absence under paragraph 44.028(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d), including

( i) the eligibility requirements for the leave of absence;

( ii) the purposes for which the leave of absence may be taken;

( iii) whether the leave of absence or any part of the leave of absence may be taken as paid or unpaid leave, or any combination thereof, and, if the leave of absence or any part of the leave of absence is paid leave, the rate of pay the employee is to be paid by the employer during the leave;

( iv) the determination of different categories of leaves of absences and remuneration for any category of employee in any industry, business, trade or occupation;

( v) the deeming of a suspension, layoff, dismissal or termination of employment as a leave of absence under paragraph 44.028(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d);

( vi) the date on which the leave of absence commences or is deemed to commence, which date may be before the date on which the regulation comes into force;

( vii) the duration of the leave of absence, whether for a fixed or indeterminate period of time;

( viii) the extension of a leave of absence;

( ix) the right of the employee to interrupt or defer a leave of absence granted under this Act in order to take a leave of absence under paragraph 44.028(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d);

( x) the verification that an employee is required to provide to an employer, if any, including the types of documentation that are acceptable, what information the documentation must contain and when the documentation must be provided;

( xi) the confidentiality, the disclosure or the sharing of the documentation or other material that an employee is required to provide to an employer with respect to the leave of absence and the procedure to be followed in consideration of the documentation or other material; and

( xii) determining any other leave entitlements not referred to in subparagraph (i) to (xi);