Construction and Construction Workers

There are two areas of the Labour Standards Code where the rules are different for construction workers than most other workers:

1. The requirement to give and receive termination notice.
2. The requirement to pay overtime.

BUT, construction is defined differently for each one. Read on to find out more about this.

1. Termination Notice

Construction workers do not have to give their employers notice when they terminate (quit) the job. Nor does the employer have to give the construction worker notice to terminate the job. Refer to section 72(3)(h) of the Labour Standards Code.

Most other employees have to give the employer at least one weeks notice when they quit, depending on how long they have worked for the same employer. The employer also has to give the employee notice. Refer to section 72 of the Labour Standards Code.

Construction is defined as follows for Termination Notice:

Construction industry means the on-site constructing, erecting, altering, decorating, repairing, or demolishing of buildings, structures, roads, sewers, water mains, pipe-lines, tunnels, shafts, bridges, wharves, piers, canals, or other similar works.

Who do these rules apply to?

These rules apply to the individual who is doing the construction work. For example, the worker doing roof work on a building site would not have to give notice when they end the job. But the receptionist for the construction company would have to give the employer proper notice when they quit.

2. Overtime Pay

Construction workers are entitled to be paid overtime after they have worked for 110 hours over two weeks. Overtime pay is equal to 1 1/2 the workers' rate of pay. Refer to the General Labour Standards Code Regulations, section 2(4A), and the minimum wage order for Construction and Property Maintenance.

Most other employees are entitled to receive overtime pay equal to 1 1/2 times their rate of pay after they have worked 48 hours in one week. Refer to the Labour Standards Code, section 40(4)

Construction is defined as follows for Overtime Pay:

It applies to the same group as for termination notice, which is the on-site constructing, erecting, altering, decorating, repairing, or demolishing of buildings, structures, roads, sewers, water mains, pipe-lines, tunnels, shafts, bridges, wharves, piers, canals, or other similar works.

Plus, it includes:
...workers involved in the construction, restoration or maintenance of roads, streets, sidewalks, structures, bridges, paving, water and sewer installations, earth and rock moving or related works, snow removal, primary production of raw construction materials, including primary production work in a saw mill, work in a machine shop, and metal fabrication.

NOTE: Generally, if there is a requirement for the employer to pay for travel time hours, then those travel time hours are included in the calculaton of overtime.

Property maintenance is generally understood to mean landscaping and related works such as mowing and painting, but does not include those doing cleaning or security of buildings.

Who do these rules apply to?

These rules apply to everyone who works for the employer if the core business of the employer is determined to be construction or property maintenance. For example, a maintenance worker employed at a nursing home does not have to work 110 hours over 2 weeks before qualifying for overtime; they would qualify for overtime pay after working 48 hours in one week. This is because the core function of the employer is the nursing home business - this is a service-type business and not construction.

To determine if overtime is due after working 110 hours over 2 weeks, ask:

What is the core function of the business / employer?

The special Overtime Pay rules do not include:

• employees of a municipality who are engaged in street construction, restoration or maintenance;
• persons receiving training under government-sponsored and government approved plans;
• apprentices under apprenticeship agreements in accordance with the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act;
• employees of enterprises engaged in maintaining the sanitation or security of buildings; or
• employees engaged in supplying materials for shipbuilding, ship repair, oil and gas industries, or related activities other than retail.

Other differences

The call in pay, waiting time and piecework provisions in the Minimum Wage Order (General) do not apply to individuals employed in construction and property maintenance as the Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance) applies to those individuals and does not contain call in, waiting time and piecework provisions.