Second

Session, 48th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2018

BILL 29

AN ACT TO AMEND

THE LABOUR STANDARDS ACT

Received

and Read the First Time ................................................................

Second

Reading ............................................................................................

Committee .....................................................................................................

Third

Reading ...............................................................................................

Royal

Assent .................................................................................................

HONOURABLE AL

HAWKINS

Minister of Advanced

Education, Skills and Labour

Ordered to be printed by

the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This

Bill would amend the Labour Standards Act

allow nurse practitioners to

issue certain certificates under the Act;

increase the amount of parental

leave available from 35 weeks to 61 weeks;

expand the persons who are

entitled to take critically ill child care leave; and

provide for critically ill

adult care leave.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

LABOUR STANDARDS ACT

Analysis

S.40 Amdt.

Pregnancy leave

S.41 Amdt.

Special circumstances

S.43.5 R&S

End of parental leave

S.43.11 Amdt.

Sick and family responsibility leave

S.43.14 Amdt.

Entitlement to leave

S.43.15 Amdt.

Notice to employer

Part VII.6 R&S

PART

VII.6

LEAVE RELATED TO CRITICAL ILLNESS

43.28

Definitions

43.29

Entitlement to leave

43.30

Notice

43.31

Employee protection

43.32

Regulations

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cL-2

as amended

1. Paragraph 40(3)(

b) of the Labour Standards Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(

b) a

certificate from a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner stating the

estimated birth date.

2. Paragraph 41(2)(

b) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(

b) a

certificate from a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner that

(

i) in

the case of an employee who stops working because of complications caused by

her pregnancy, states the employee is unable to perform her duties because of

complications caused by her pregnancy and states the expected birth date, or

(ii) in

other cases, states the date of the birth, still-birth or miscarriage and the

date the employee was expected to give birth.

Section 43.5 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

End of parental

leave

43.5 Parental leave ends 61 weeks after it began or

on an earlier day if the employee gives the employer at least 4 weeks' written

notice of that day.

4. Subsection 43.11(2) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(2) An

employee shall provide his or her employer with a certificate of a medical

practitioner or nurse practitioner for a period of 3 or more consecutive days

of sick leave.

5. Subsection 43.14(1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

Entitlement to

leave

43.14

(1) An employee who has been employed by the same

employer for at least 30 days is entitled to a leave of absence without pay of

up to 28 weeks to provide care or support to a family member of the employee

where a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner issues a certificate stating

that the family member has a serious medical condition with a significant risk

of death within 26 weeks from

(

a) the

day the certificate is issued; or

(

b) the

day the leave began, if leave began before the certificate was issued.

6. Subsection 43.15(4) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(4) Where

the employer makes a written request, an employee shall provide his or her

employer with a copy of the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner's certificate

referred to in subsection 43.14(1).

Part VII.6 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

PART VII.6

LEAVE RELATED TO CRITICAL ILLNESS

Definitions

43.28 In

this Part

(a) "cohabiting partner" means either of 2 persons who are cohabiting and have

cohabited continuously in a conjugal relationship outside marriage for not less

than one year;

(b) "critically ill adult" has the same meaning as in the regulations made

under the Employment Insurance Act ( Canada );

(c) "critically ill child" has the same meaning as in the regulations made

under the Employment Insurance Act ( Canada );

(d) "family member" means

(

i) a

spouse or cohabiting partner of the employee ,

(ii) a

child of the employee or of the employee 's spouse or cohabiting partner,

(iii) a

parent of the employee or a spouse or cohabiting partner of the parent, and

(iv) any

other person who is a member of a class of persons prescribed for the purpose

of this definition in the regulations; and

(e) "week" means the period between midnight on Saturday and

midnight on the immediately following Saturday.

Entitlement to leave

43.29

(1) An employee who has been employed by the same

employer for at least 30 days is entitled to a leave of absence from employment

without pay of up to 37 weeks to provide care or support to a critically ill

child who is a family member where a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner

issues a certificate

(

a) stating

that the child is a critically ill child and requires the care or support of

the employee; and

(

b) setting

out the period during which the child requires that care or support.

(2) An

employee who has been employed by the same employer for at least 30 days is

entitled to a leave of absence from employment without pay of up to 17 weeks to

provide care or support to a critically ill adult who is a family member where

a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner issues a certificate

(

a) stating

that the adult is a critically ill adult and requires the care or support of

the employee; and

(

b) setting

out the period during which the adult requires that care or support.

(3) Notwithstanding

subsections (1) and (2), an employee who takes a leave of absence in accordance

with this Part shall limit the duration of that leave of absence to that which

is reasonably necessary in the circumstances.

(4) An employee who wishes to take a leave of

absence under this Part shall give the employer a copy of the medical

practitioner or nurse practitioners certificate referred to in subsection (1) or

(2) as soon as possible.

Notice

43.30

(1) An employee who intends to take a leave of

absence under this Part shall give written notice to his or her employer at

least 2 weeks before the leave of absence is to begin of that intention, unless

there is a valid reason why that notice cannot be given.

(2) An

employee who gives notice under subsection (1) shall include in that written

notice to the employer the length of the leave of absence that the employee

intends to take.

(3) Every

employee who is taking a leave of absence under this Part shall give at least 2

weeks' written notice to the employer of any change in the length of leave

intended to be taken, unless there is a valid reason why that notice cannot be

given.

Employee protection

43.31

(1) An employer shall not dismiss an employee or

give notice of dismissal to an employee because an employee intends to take,

applies for or takes a leave of absence under this Part.

(2) Where

an employee is dismissed by his or her employer contrary to subsection (1), the

onus of proving that the reason for dismissal is unrelated to the critically

ill child care leave or critically ill adult care leave rests with the employer.

(3) An

employer shall reinstate an employee at the end of his or her leave of absence

that subsisted before the leave of absence began.

(4) Unless

the employer and the employee otherwise agree, a period of leave under this

Part does not count towards the application of the rights, benefits and

privileges conferred by this Act upon an employee, but the period worked upon

resumption of employment after leave shall be considered, for the purpose of

this Act, to be continuous with the period worked before the leave.

Regulations

43.32 The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make

regulations

(

a) respecting

leave under this Part;

(

b) setting

out time frames within which leave under this Part may be accessed;

(

c) respecting

early termination of leave under this Part;

(

d) prescribing

classes of persons for the purpose of paragraph 43.28(d); and

(

e) generally, to give effect to this Part.

Queen's Printer