Canada Labour Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. L-2)

Combining Federal Works, Undertakings and Businesses

Marginal note:Orders of Minister combining federal works, undertakings and businesses

• 255 (1) Where associated or related federal works, undertakings and businesses are operated by two or more employers having common control or direction, the Minister may, after affording to the employers a reasonable opportunity to make representations, by order, declare that for all purposes of this Part the employers and the federal works, undertakings and businesses operated by them that are specified in the order are, respectively, a single employer and a single federal work, undertaking or business.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where an order is made under subsection (1), the employers to which it applies are jointly and severally liable to the employees employed in the federal works, undertakings and businesses to which the order applies for overtime pay, vacation pay, holiday pay and other wages or amounts to which the employees are entitled under this Part.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Offences and punishment

• 256 (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who

  • (a) contravenes any provision of this Part or the regulations, other than a provision of Division IX, subsection 239.1(2), 239.2(1), 251.001(9) or 252(2) or any regulation made under section 227 or paragraph 264(1)(a) or (a.1);

  • (b) contravenes any order made under this Part or the regulations; or

  • (c) discharges, threatens to discharge or otherwise discriminates against a person because that person

    • (i) has testified or is about to testify in any proceedings or inquiry taken or had under this Part, or

    • (ii) has given any information to the Minister or the Head regarding the wages, hours of work, annual vacation or conditions of work of an employee.

• Marginal note:Punishment

  (1.1) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction

  • (a) in the case of an employer that is a corporation,

    • (i) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than $50,000,

    • (ii) for a second offence, to a fine of not more than $100,000, and

    • (iii) for each subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than $250,000; and

  • (b) in all other cases,

    • (i) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than $10,000,

    • (ii) for a second offence, to a fine of not more than $20,000, and

    • (iii) for each subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than $50,000.

• Marginal note:Second or subsequent offence

  (1.2) For the purposes of subsection (1.1), in determining whether a person convicted of an offence has committed a second or subsequent offence, an earlier offence may be taken into account only if the person was convicted of the earlier offence within the five-year period immediately before the day on which the person is convicted of the offence for which sentence is being imposed.

• Marginal note:Offences — employers

  (2) Every employer that contravenes any provision of Division IX, subsection 239.1(2) or 239.2(1) or any regulation made under section 227 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $250,000.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Every employer who

  • (a) fails to keep any record that, by subsection 252(2) or any regulation made under paragraph 264(1)(a) or (a.1), the employer is required to keep, or

  • (b) refuses to make available for examination by the Head at any reasonable time any such record kept by the employer,

  is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $1,000 for each day during which the refusal or failure continues.

Marginal note:Procedure

• 257 (1) A complaint or information under this Part may relate to one or more offences by one employer in respect of one or more of his employees.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (2) Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Part may be instituted at any time within but not later than three years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

• Marginal note:Minister’s consent required

  (3) No proceeding against a director of a corporation in respect of an offence under this Part shall be instituted except with the consent of the Minister.

Marginal note:Order to pay arrears of wages

• 258 (1) Where an employer has been convicted of an offence under this Part in respect of any employee, the convicting court shall, in addition to any other punishment, order the employer to pay to the employee any overtime pay, vacation pay, holiday pay or other wages or amounts to which the employee is entitled under this Part the non-payment or insufficient payment of which constituted the offence for which the employer was convicted.

• Marginal note:Reinstatement of pay and position

  (2) Where an employer has been convicted of an offence under this Part in respect of the discharge of an employee, the convicting court may, in addition to any other punishment, order the employer

  • (a) to pay compensation for loss of employment to the employee not exceeding such sum as in the opinion of the court is equivalent to the wages that would have accrued to the employee up to the date of conviction but for such discharge; and

  • (b) to reinstate the employee in his employ at such date as in the opinion of the court is just and proper in the circumstances and in the position that the employee would have held but for such discharge.

• Marginal note:When inaccurate records kept

  (3) In determining the amount of wages or overtime for the purposes of subsection (1), if the convicting court finds that the employer has not kept accurate records as required by this Part or the regulations, the employee affected shall be conclusively presumed to have been employed for the maximum number of hours a week allowed under this Part and to be entitled to the full weekly wage therefor.

Marginal note:Failure to comply with order

259 An employer that fails to comply with an order of a convicting court made under section 258 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $1,000 for each day during which the failure continues.

Marginal note:Imprisonment precluded in certain cases

• 259.1 (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Part punishable on summary conviction, no imprisonment may be imposed as punishment for the offence or in default of payment of any fine imposed as punishment.

• Marginal note:Recovery of penalties

  (2) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Part and the fine that is imposed is not paid when required, the prosecutor may, by filing the conviction, enter as a judgment the amount of the fine and costs, if any, in a superior court of the province in which the trial was held, and the judgment is enforceable against the person in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the person in that court in civil proceedings.

Marginal note:Identity of complainants

• 260 (1) If a person makes a complaint under this Part and requests that their name and identity be withheld, their name and identity must not be disclosed unless

  • (a) the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of a prosecution;

  • (b) the Head determines that the disclosure is in the public interest; or

  • (c) the Head determines that the disclosure is necessary for the investigation of the complaint to be carried out and the complainant consents to the disclosure in writing.

• Marginal note:Consent

  (2) If a determination is made under paragraph (1)(c) and the complainant refuses to provide their consent after being requested to do so in writing, the Head may deem the complaint to be withdrawn.

Marginal note:Civil remedy

261 No civil remedy of an employee against his employer for arrears of wages is suspended or affected by this Part.

Ministerial Orders

Marginal note:Orders

262 Where by this Part or the regulations the Minister is authorized to make any order in respect of any matter, the order may be made to apply generally or in particular cases or to apply to classes of employees or industrial establishments.

Pilot Projects

Marginal note:Regulations

263 Despite anything in this Part, the Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Governor in Council considers necessary respecting the establishment and operation of one or more pilot projects for testing which possible amendments to this Part or the regulations made under this Part would improve and better protect employees’ rights under this Part, including regulations respecting the manner in which and the extent to which any provision of this Part or the regulations made under this Part applies to a pilot project and adapting any such provision for the purposes of that application.

Marginal note:Repeal

263.1 Unless they are repealed earlier, regulations made under section 263 are repealed on the fifth anniversary of the day on which they come into force.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 264 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Part and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

  • (a) requiring employers to keep records of wages, vacations, holidays and overtime of employees and of other particulars relevant to the purposes of this Part or any Division thereof;

  • (a.1) requiring employers to keep records relevant to the purposes of this Part in respect of persons who are excluded under subsection 167(1.2) from the application of all or any of this Part;

  • (a.2) respecting the information that an employer must provide to the Head for the purpose of establishing that the performance of activities referred to in subsection 167(1.2) fulfils the requirements of a program referred to in that subsection, and the circumstances in which an employer must provide it;

  • (a.3) specifying the circumstances in which a person who performs activities referred to in subsection 167(1.2) must provide to an employer the information referred to in paragraph (a.2);

  • (a.4) for the purpose of subsection 167(1.2), specifying or describing secondary or post-secondary educational institutions, vocational schools, or equivalent educational institutions outside Canada;

  • (b) designating any branch, section or other division of any federal work, undertaking or business as an industrial establishment for the purposes of this Part or any Division thereof;

  • (b.1) extending the application of this Part, in the manner and to the extent provided for in the regulations, to any class of persons;

  • (c) governing the production and inspection of records required to be kept by employers;

  • (d) for calculating and determining wages received by an employee in respect of his employment, including the monetary value of remuneration other than money and, for the purposes of any provision or provisions of this Part specified in the regulations, the regular rate of wages of employees;

  • (e) for calculating and determining the regular rate of wages, on an hourly basis, of employees who are paid on any basis of time other than hourly or who are not paid solely on a basis of time;

  • (e.1) respecting the calculation and payment of the wages and other amounts to which an employee whose wages are paid on a commission basis, on a salary plus commission basis or on any other basis other than time is entitled to under Divisions V, VII, VIII, X and XI;

  • (f) prescribing the maximum number of hours that may elapse between the commencement and termination of the working day of any employee;

  • (g) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 505]

  • (h) requiring an employer in any industrial establishment to notify employees, by the publication of such notices, in such manner as may be prescribed, of

    • (i) the provisions of this Part or any regulation or order made under this Part,

    • (ii) the particulars of hours of work, including the hours at which shifts change,

    • (iii) the particulars of rest periods and meal periods, and

    • (iv) other matters related to hours and conditions of work of employees;

  • (i) providing for the payment of any wages of an employee to the Head or to another person in the event that the employee cannot be found or in any other case;

  • (i.1) providing for the application of any provisions of this Part or of the regulations made under this Part to persons and, in relation to those persons, employers who are otherwise excluded under subsection 167(1.2) from the application of this Part and adapting those provisions for the purpose of applying them to those persons and those employers;

  • (j) providing for the establishment of consultative or advisory committees to advise the Minister on any matters arising in relation to the administration of this Part;

  • (j.1) prescribing the circumstances and conditions for the purposes of subsection 251.01(3);

  • (j.2) prescribing the circumstances under which a complaint is not to be rejected under paragraph 251.05(1)(c);

  • (j.3) prescribing the conditions that are to be met before a complaint may be rejected under paragraph 251.05(1)(c);

  • (j.4) prescribing periods for the purposes of subsection 251.05(1.1); and

  • (j.5) [Repealed, 2020, c. 12, s. 4]

  • (k) for any other matter or purpose that under this Part is required or permitted to be prescribed by regulation.

• Marginal note:Incorporation of documents

  (2) A regulation made under paragraph (1)(a.4) that incorporates by reference, in whole or in part, a document may incorporate the document, regardless of its source, as it exists on a certain date, as amended to a certain date or as amended from time to time.