Province Enhancing Job Protections for Reservists

Canadian Armed Forces reservists make significant sacrifices to help serve and protect the country. The province is taking steps to improve their job protection when they take leave from work to serve our country.

“We greatly value the sacrifice and bravery of our country’s reservists,” said Minister of Labour and Advanced Education Labi Kousoulis. “By updating our legislation, we will ensure their jobs are protected when they are called upon for training and deployment.”

New legislation introduced today, Feb. 20, would see the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code better align with recent federal government changes made to the reservist leave provisions under the Canada Labour Code.

The proposed amendments include:

• reducing the eligibility period required to have access to reservist leave from one year to three months
• increasing the length of the leave from 18 months, within a three-year period, to 24 months within any 60-month period and allowing for a longer period of leave in a situation involving a national emergency
• reducing the notice period to employers from 90 days to 30 days, or as much notice as reasonably possible when an employee receives less than four weeks notice of the requirement to participate as a reservist

There will also be housekeeping amendments to the pregnancy and parental leave provisions that fall under the code. This will bring them in line with changes that were previously passed.

If passed, the legislation would take effect in the spring.

Quotes:

“The reservists of Nova Scotia play an important role in the Canadian Armed Forces. These amendments will provide important support that is consistent with reservist leave provisions provided by the Government of Canada. This will help ensure all reservist in Canada are treated equally.”

– John Young, chair, Canadian Forces Liaison Council (Nova Scotia)

“As a reservist with 39 years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces I have benefited from civilian employers providing me time to complete training and operational deployment. I am encouraged to see these changes and believe that they will have a direct impact on Nova Scotian reservists who are serving our country.”

– Col. Dale Warner, regional liaison officer, Canadian Forces Liaison

Quick Facts:

• there are about 1,200 reservists in Nova Scotia
• federal changes to the reservist leave provisions took place in the fall 2019

Additional Resources:

Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/labour%20standards%20code.pdf

Federal Labour Standards Code: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/