Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 21, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - The Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) released an overview of the changes that the new Employment Standards Act will bring last week.

While the regulations haven't been detailed yet, one of the more notable changes to the act is that the territory's minimum wage will now be in the regulations instead of laid out in the act itself.

"Regulations can be changed much more quickly," Barbour said, adding this would make the minimum wage more flexible.

The current minimum wage of $8.25 per hour will be reviewed and written into the regulations that are being created between now and April 1.

The legislation was passed in August 2007, and the department is developing the new regulations under the act, which will take effect on April 1.

"We are taking input from the public and employers for the regulations that will accompany the act," said ECE's director of college and career development, Catherine Boyd.

The new act is a modernization of the previous Labour Standards Act, and it also absorbs the previous Wages Recoveries Act and Employment Agencies Act into one piece of legislation.

Policy Advisor Blair Barbour said the Labour Standards Act was originally enacted in the late 1960s.

"It was time for new, modern legislation," Barbour said.

While many aspects of the NWT's standards of employment will remain basically the same, there are a number of small changes which employers and employees can look for after April.

Boyd said employers will now be required to list on pay stubs the number of hours which an employee was paid for on statutory holidays.

Employment standards officer Janelle James said this had not previously been required, and many employers did not separately list the numbers, causing problems when employees brought in pay stubs with complaints.

"We had people previously not knowing whether they had been paid properly for stat holidays," said James.

Another change will be that employees can now enter into agreements with their employers that allow them to be compensated for overtime with paid time off instead of overtime pay if they choose.

Employers will also be able to submit pay stubs to employees electronically, but only if they can provide a private place for them to view it. In addition to this, the standards regarding employment of young people will now be a solid part of the act, instead of previously being dealt with through regulations.

Public affairs manager for ECE Shawn McCann said the department will prepare new educational materials which detail all the changes for employers and the general public once the regulations have been decided. The department is accepting input regarding the regulations until Feb. 28.