Two bills that impact workers were passed in the spring sitting of the Saskatchewan Legislature. Bill 5 changed the minimum standards for all workers, while Bill 18 changed standards for certain health providers.

Bill 5: The Saskatchewan Employment Amendment Act

Bill 5, The Saskatchewan Employment Amendment Act, was introduced in the Legislature in December and received Royal Assent in May. The legislation was a grab bag of changes to the minimum standards that workers in this province experience, including overtime rules, gratuities, sick notes and a host of other measures in one bill.

 "To meet the needs of a growing Saskatchewan, we need to ensure that our labour laws are meeting the needs of Saskatchewan people," said Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Jim Reiter in a Government of Saskatchewan media release. "The feedback we received from employers, unions, individuals and others has helped inform the amendments that will create flexibility for employers while still supporting employees."

The government release highlighted several amendments within the bill, including allowing employers to use a calendar day rather than 24 consecutive hours when crafting work schedules and assigning overtime, increasing the threshold when employers are required to notify employees and unions of a group termination from 10 employees to 25 employees, limiting when employers can request sick notes, and extending leave provisions related to sick leave, maternity leave, interpersonal violence leave and bereavement leave.

According to SGEU President Tracey Sauer, the legislation’s impacts on workers remains to be seen.

“While collective bargaining agreements are all still in place and protect our members, changes like this can impact bargaining in the future,” said Sauer. “It’s a very mixed bag of positive and negative changes and we’ll be watching to see how it impacts Saskatchewan workers.”

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) also gave the bill mixed reviews in a release. In particular, the SFL criticized the changes to notices of group terminations.

“In the face of tariffs and economic uncertainty, decreasing this notice safeguard stands to unfairly harm workers. This could facilitate ‘stealth layoffs’ which are not only bad for workers, but for their communities and the economy as well,” stated the release. “Without mandated termination notice, pay in lieu of notice of termination – a standard to ensure an element of fairness to workers suddenly put out of work – is jeopardized.”

Members of the Saskatchewan Opposition highlighted some positive changes in the bill but also voiced concerns.

“I was very pleased to see some of the improvements for workers that were included in Bill 5, such as improved access to job protected leaves and new protections for workers who earn tips,” said NDP Labour Shadow Minister Nathaniel Teed. “I was concerned by some of the changes in Bill 5 that will have negative impacts on workers, such as changes to language on the definition of a work day, and I proposed amendments at committee that the government used their majority to vote down.”

If you believe your employer is not following your collective bargaining agreement or employment standards, please contact a Member Services Officer (MSO) immediately at (306) 775-7872 sgeumso@sgeu.org.

Bill 18: The Regulated Health Professions Act

Bill 18, The Regulated Health Professions Act, also has the potential to impact SGEU members, specifically in the health sector. It’s a bill that sets out to create “umbrella legislation” for regulatory bodies that oversee professionals working in Saskatchewan health care.

The bill was tabled by Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill. In the Legislature, Cockrill said that the bill intended to combine “21 individual acts regulating 28 health professions governed by 26 regulatory bodies” into a single piece of legislation.

“Now in Canada and really around the world, there have been substantive changes in how self-regulating professions, particularly health professions, are governed, based on the public’s growing demand for more accountability and transparency from regulatory bodies,” said Cockrill during debates the Legislature. “The new framework will enable health regulators to fulfill their public protection mandate more effectively.”

SGEU Health Sector members who could be impacted include any member working in Allied Health or nursing. When this legislation is put into force, the regulatory bodies that oversee these members’ professions now will follow a single piece of legislation. Furthermore, the Minister of Health, whoever they are, will have more authority to intervene in those regulatory bodies’ choices.

“We’re concerned about the expending of the minister’s power over labour relations and how it may impact all workers in Saskatchewan health care,” said SGEU President Tracey Sauer. “Again, we’ll be ensuring that our collective bargaining agreements are adhered to and that workers are treated with respect, not as political scapegoats.”

“Bill 18 proposes to standardize some procedures for self-regulating professions in healthcare,” observed NDP Shadow Health Minister Vicki Mowat. “There are many unanswered questions about how this will change the landscape for the regulatory bodies that oversee healthcare workers, and it will be critical for the provincial government to work collaboratively with healthcare workers in providing supports and meaningful impact on the implementation of this bill.”