Registered User
Labor laws in canada? Break policies?
Hey guys, i just want to know if anyone has any information/links on labor laws in canada i.e how long of a break you SHOULD get and such when working. My girl works in a ghetto ass store and sometimes she doesn't get any breaks even if she works for 8 hours just becuase they are "too busy" . I need some information for her and just in case i need to get these fucks in some serious trouble. thanks for any help
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
—Cicero, Roman statesman and lawyer
Banned
If her breaks are paid ones (such as they are at many larger companies and corporations), then you voluntarily give up all your legal rights to breaks.
If they are unpaid, it's 15 or 30min every 3 hours, I forget exactly.
Moderator
So if she works for 8 hours, and she is paid for 8 hours, they don't have to give her a break?
Original Post NAZI Moderated
Originally posted by r3cc0s
Felon or Mistermeiner
Banned
Nope. You're only legally entitled to breaks if you aren't paid on them. When you get paid for them, you voluntarily give up your legal rights to them. That is why you can refuse to accept paid breaks if they are offered to you.Originally posted by Weapon_R
So if she works for 8 hours, and she is paid for 8 hours, they don't have to give her a break?
Most companies who have paid breaks give you reasonable ones tho, within reasonable time frames.
Dumper Thumper
Call the labour board. They answer all your questions.
Registered User
i might if it really pisses me off.. someone has gotta be assertive in this relationshipOriginally posted by Hollywood
Call the labour board. They answer all your questions.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
—Cicero, Roman statesman and lawyer
Master Engine Builder
10 min unpaid every 2 hrs.
ninja trainers motto
always be able to kill your students
Registered User
I must disagree.
Over 5 hours is 30 mins PAID or 2 15's PAID. And thats from McDicks - they cut the law as close as they can for labor.
I am positive that working 8 hours straight with no break is illegal. The line is at 5 hrs.
Khyron
That's not sweat. It's your fat, crying.
Director of Awesomeness 
Here is what the Alberta Government outlines as the Employment standard in ALBERTA only. Remember, this is the MINIMUM standard and your employer may of course go beyond this for a healthier work environment.
During each shift in excess of five consecutive hours of work, an employee is entitled to at least a one-half hour break, except where it is unreasonable or impossible. The break can be paid, or unpaid, at the employer's discretion.
This means that where a shift is less than 5 hours in length the employer is not obliged to provide a rest period. Where the shift is longer than 5 hours (e.g. 8 or 9 hours) the obligation of the employer is to provide at least 30 minutes of break time sometime during the shift. The 30 minutes can be taken in one unbroken period but may be provided as two 15-minute or three 10-minute breaks.
HOWEVER!! If you are employed in any of the following occupations, this does not apply to you!
employees on a farm or a ranch
various types of salespersons
professionals such as real estate brokers, and licensed insurance and securities salespersons
professions such as architects, engineers, lawyers, psychologists and information systems professionals
managers, supervisors and those employed in a confidential capacity
licensed land agents
instructors or counsellors at a non-profit educational or recreational camp
extras in a film or video production
employees covered by other Acts (academic staff)
municipal police officers
For more reading, go take a look at:
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/employment...bout/index.asp
---
Banned
i get paid breaks and up to 5 hours we get 15 mins, after that its 2 - 15 minsOriginally posted by link785
Nope. You're only legally entitled to breaks if you aren't paid on them. When you get paid for them, you voluntarily give up your legal rights to them. That is why you can refuse to accept paid breaks if they are offered to you.
Most companies who have paid breaks give you reasonable ones tho, within reasonable time frames.
Registered User
so kenny what if the store is "too busy" to allow employees to take a break
Is that the same as the "impossible" or "unreasonable" areas of what you posted? I think its just bullshit and i want my gf to find a better job one that doesn't treat its employees like sweatshop workers
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
—Cicero, Roman statesman and lawyer
Banned
I doubt it would be impossible or unreasonable, because the "store" can still function if she takes a break, it would just be slower, so It wouldn't be impossible.Originally posted by ~$eanith~
so kenny what if the store is "too busy" to allow employees to take a break
Is that the same as the "impossible" or "unreasonable" areas of what you posted? I think its just bullshit and i want my gf to find a better job one that doesn't treat its employees like sweatshop workers
Registered User
exactly what i was thinking. fucking nazis.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
—Cicero, Roman statesman and lawyer
Registered User
If she likes the job (aside from the break BS) have her make a complaint. Then an inspector comes out and checks. If the complaint is not anonymous, she gets protection from being fired, threatened to be fired, etc.
Or PM me the store name/location and I'll give them a ring. Can't track it back to your GF that way.
Khyron
Last edited by Khyron; 11-16-2003 at 07:37 PM.
That's not sweat. It's your fat, crying.
Banned
I also get paid breaks, 30min every 3 hours, all I'm saying is, they don't HAVE to give you a break if it's paid.Originally posted by Mx6GtTurbo
i get paid breaks and up to 5 hours we get 15 mins, after that its 2 - 15 mins
Director of Awesomeness
I think impossible would be like this scenario:Originally posted by ~$eanith~
so kenny what if the store is "too busy" to allow employees to take a break
Is that the same as the "impossible" or "unreasonable" areas of what you posted? I think its just bullshit and i want my gf to find a better job one that doesn't treat its employees like sweatshop workers
A retail store in a mall that has posted a "now hiring" sign and is looking for new staff, and your girlfriend is the ONLY employee (besides a manager or something) in the store. This means she cannot go on a break without leaving the store to be handled by a single person. It is impossible/unreasonable at this point to give her a 30 minute break because there is not enough resources to cover the store during the break and the store is looking for new employees.
---
Registered User
she usually works with a bunch of ppl.. like a couple managers and other ppl. she said both tills were busy and the others had to do stuff. definitely not "impossible" to get a break. khyron check pmsOriginally posted by kenny
I think impossible would be like this scenario:
A retail store in a mall that has posted a "now hiring" sign and is looking for new staff, and your girlfriend is the ONLY employee (besides a manager or something) in the store. This means she cannot go on a break without leaving the store to be handled by a single person. It is impossible/unreasonable at this point to give her a 30 minute break because there is not enough resources to cover the store during the break and the store is looking for new employees.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
—Cicero, Roman statesman and lawyer
Banned
well no, that would go agaisn't your rights as a employee, a "impossible" no break scenario would be like if you were a pilot, and your co-pilot died,and your plane was stuck in the air because the airport was messed up, and you had been flying for like 6 hours, it would be impossible for you to take a break.Originally posted by kenny
I think impossible would be like this scenario:
A retail store in a mall that has posted a "now hiring" sign and is looking for new staff, and your girlfriend is the ONLY employee (besides a manager or something) in the store. This means she cannot go on a break without leaving the store to be handled by a single person. It is impossible/unreasonable at this point to give her a 30 minute break because there is not enough resources to cover the store during the break and the store is looking for new employees.
But if you were working in a store and you were there for 6 hours with no break well then i guess you could just close the sotre for 30 mins, that would not be impossible, or unreasonable. people close stores for half an hour all the time, it's called lunch.
Registered User
^ yeah man i know what your saying. my chiropractor closes his store for like 2 hours for lunch lol
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
—Cicero, Roman statesman and lawyer
Registered User
Watch what you do - Alberta labour laws are structured in favour of the employer.
Most employers in retail are "forced" to cut breaks for employees during the busy season. It happens - and unless you have a union job it always will happen.
If you complain, any competent manager can find a way to get rid of you - it really isn't that hard. All it takes is 2 warnings, and on the third you're fired.
So everyone says - this can't be done, here's a scenario. Labour laws state you only need to give 48 hours written notice of a shift change to an employee. So technically they can change her shifts at will giving her the proper notice. Thus, fucking up ALL OF HER PLANS and either forcing her to work when she doesn't want to (Resulting in loss of performance, resulting in bad work, resulting in complaint letters in employees file) or forcing her not to go to work (resulting in letters in file).
Again, that is one EASY example of how an employer can legally fuck over an employee. You makes things hard for them, they make it hard for you. Trust me, you can do this VERY EASILY (Done it myself).
Posting Permissions
Quote
