Alberta Human Resources and Employment also administers the Employment Standards Code (ESC) and Employment Standards Regulation (ESR). This is the law that contains Alberta's basic rules about working and employing people. Employees and employers have rights and responsibilities under the ESC and ESR. The Employment Standards Code and Regulation are enforced by Employment Standards Officers.
Some of the Employment Standards requirements include:
• Employees must receive a detailed written statement of earnings and deductions for their retention each pay period.
• No deduction can be made from an employee's earnings for
(i) faulty workmanship
(ii) cash shortages or loss of property if anyone other than the employee had access to the cash or property.
The ESC applies to students as long as they are employed, whether they work full-time or part-time for an Alberta employer, unless employed by the federal government or in an industry regulated by the Government of Canada, such as:
• post offices
• railways
• banks
• radio and television companies.
In that case, students are covered by the federal Canada Labour Code.
No one who is required to be in school (unless enrolled in an off-campus education program under the School Act) is permitted to be employed during normal school hours. Currently, this includes anyone under the age of 16.
The ESC places various restrictions on persons under the age of 18, with respect to their hours of work, supervision and where they can work. If it is reported that an underage person is working at a work site in violation of the specified restrictions, an Employment Standards Officer will investigate.
Overtime pay starts, for most employees, after working eight hours in a day or 44 hours in any seven-day work week. The pay rate for any additional hours is one and one half times the regular wage (often referred to as time and a half).
Most employees who work in Alberta are entitled to a vacation with pay. Employees are entitled to at least two weeks vacation after one year of working. For part-time employees, vacation is based on the hours worked. There are certain rules and time guidelines employers must follow when deciding when to pay vacation pay.
If an employee is terminated, (or fired, let go, discharged, dismissed, or permanently laid off) and worked for more than three months, the employer is required, in most cases, to provide a notice of termination. This is a notice, in writing, that the employment is going to end permanently. If the employee doesn't receive any notice, the employee is entitled to termination pay in lieu of notice.
The length of notice an employer is required to give depends on the duration of employment and must be in writing. For example, employers must provide:
• one week of notice for employment of more than three months, but less than two years
• two weeks of notice for employment of two years, but less than four years.
An employer may choose to give pay for the required notice period instead of providing notice. A combination of written notice and pay in lieu of notice (i.e., termination pay) is also acceptable.
The employer must pay all wages, overtime, general holiday pay and vacation pay due to the employee within three days following termination of employment. However, there are some exceptions.
The Employment Standards Code prohibits an employer from dismissing an employee because the employee's wages are garnisheed (i.e., being collected to cover a debt) or when that employee is on maternity or parental leave.
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