BILL NO. 483
(as introduced)
1st Session, 64th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
3 Charles III, 2024
Private Member's Bill
Labour Standards Code
(amended)
Kendra Coombes
Cape Breton Centre–Whitney Pier
First Reading: September 12, 2024
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
Explanatory Note
This Bill amends the Labour Standards Code by replacing indeterminate unpaid emergency leave with up to 10 days emergency leave, with the first 5 days being paid leave and the remainder unpaid.
An Act to Amend Chapter 246
of the Revised Statutes, 1989,
the Labour Standards Code,
to Provide Paid Leave
for Events of Domestic Violence
and Other Emergencies
Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 Section 7 of Chapter 246 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Labour Standards Code, as amended by Chapter 14 of the Acts of 1991, Chapter 4 of the Acts of 2003 (Second Session), Chapters 10 and 13 of the Acts of 2006, Chapter 18 of the Acts of 2009, Chapter 37 of the Acts of 2010, Chapter 19 of the Acts of 2011, Chapter 11 of the Acts of 2013, Chapter 11 of the Acts of 2016, Chapter 13 of the Acts of 2018, Chapters 13 and 14 of the Acts of 2020 and Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2022, is further amended by adding immediately after clause (bj) the following clause:
- (bja) prescribe permitted disclosures for the purpose of subsection (13) of Section 60I;
2 Section 60I of Chapter 246, as enacted by Chapter 18 of the Acts of 2009 and amended by Chapters 13 and 36 of the Acts of 2018, is further amended by striking out subsections (3) to (7) and substituting the following subsections:
- (3) An employee is entitled to take up to ten days of leave under this Section in each calendar year because of an emergency, including an emergency relating to an event of domestic violence.
(4) Where an employee takes a leave under this Section, the employee is entitled to take the first five such days as paid days of leave in each calendar year and the balance of the employee's entitlement under this Section as unpaid leave.
(5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), where an employee takes a paid day of leave under this Section, the employer shall pay the employee
(a) the wages the employee would have earned had the employee not taken the leave;
(b) where the employee receives performance-related wages, including commissions or a piece-work rate, the greater of the employee's hourly rate, if any, and the minimum wage that would have applied to the employee for the number of hours the employee would have worked had the employee not taken the leave; or
(c) where some other manner of calculation is used to determine the pay of the employee, the amount determined using that manner of calculation.
(6) Where a paid day of leave under this Section falls on a day when holiday pay would be payable by the employer, the employee is not entitled to more than the employee's regular pay for any leave taken under this Section.
(7) For the purpose of an employee's entitlement under this Section, where an employee takes any part of a day as leave, the employer may deem the employee to have taken one day of leave on that day.
(8) A day of leave taken by an employee under this Section must not be applied to the employee's detriment in respect of any benefit or privilege arising from seniority or length of service.
(9) An employee who wishes to take leave under this Section shall advise the employer that the employee will be doing so.
(10) Where an employee must begin a leave under this Section before advising the employer, the employee shall advise the employer of the leave as soon as possible after beginning it.
(11) An employer may require an employee who takes a leave under this Section to provide evidence reasonable in the circumstances of the employee's entitlement to the leave.
(12) An employer shall ensure that mechanisms are in place to protect the confidentiality of records given to or produced by the employer that relate to an employee taking a leave under this Section.
(13) Nothing in subsection (12) prevents an employer from disclosing a record if
(a) the employee has consented to the disclosure of the record;
(b) the disclosure is made to an officer, employee, consultant or agent of the employer who needs the record in the performance of that person's duties;
(c) the disclosure is authorized or required by law; or
(d) the disclosure is a permitted disclosure as prescribed in the regulations.
3 This Act has effect on and after January 1, 2025.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2024 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created September 12, 2024. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
