The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Employees who report wrongdoing will have even stronger protection following amendments to The Labour Standards Act introduced on Friday. "These amendments further protect workers who report illegal acts from retribution or retaliation," Labour Minister Deb Higgins said. "They also provide the Director of Labour Standards with the legal authority to enforce this section directly, instead of requiring a potentially lengthy and expensive court case." The amendments will: Clarify that an employee can report violations of federal and provincial laws to a direct or indirect supervisor of the employee, as well as to a law enforcement agency; Allow the Director of Labour Standards to investigate and issue a decision respecting an employee's complaint of wrongful dismissal or discrimination as a result of reporting an illegal activity. Under the proposed amendments, the Director of Labour Standards can order the employer to: Cease any discriminatory activity toward the employee o Restore the employee to his or her previous position o Pay any wages that the employee lost as a result of the employer's violation of section 74 Allow the employee or employer to appeal the decision of the Director of Labour Standards to independent adjudicators; "We introduced these amendments to improve on existing protection to whistleblowers through The Labour Standards Act, which currently offers more protection for employees than in most other parts of Canada," Higgins said.11/23/2004
