CANADA Law and Practice Contributed by: Christopher Pigott, Rachel Younan, Jacob Wagner and Felisha Jagiah, Fasken
6. Collective Relations 6.1 Unions
choose to provide their employees with sabbatical leave. Depending on the employer’s policy, a sabbati - cal can either be paid or unpaid. An employer may also implement eligibility requirements in order to take sabbatical leave, such as a certain number of years in service. 5.3 Other New Manifestations As a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, new models of work have increased in prevalence in Can - ada, including: • four-day working weeks; • “hotelling” – a practice associated with telecom - muting, whereby telecommuters reserve an office or workstation for their in-office days in lieu of assigning them a permanent work space; • “flextime” – a type of alternative schedule that gives a worker greater latitude in choosing their particular hours of work or grants the freedom to change work schedules from one week to the next, depending on the employee’s personal needs; • “compressed work week” – an alternative sched - uling method that allows employees to work a standard working week of their regular hours over a period of fewer than five days in one week or ten days in two weeks; • “job-sharing” – the practice of having two different employees performing the tasks of one full-time position; and • minimum in-office days – the practice of mandat - ing specific days (ie, “anchor” days), or a specific number of days, on which employees are required to attend the workplace for in-person meetings and collaboration. Employees do not have a legal right to these models of work and, even though Canadian employers are looking to implement flexible models of work in the post-pandemic work environment, many employers are requiring employees to return to the workplace on a regular basis.
Each jurisdiction in Canada has labour relations leg - islation that establishes employees’ rights to join a union, engage in a process of collective bargaining and enter into a collective agreement with the employ - er that defines the terms and conditions of employ - ment in the unionised workplace. Employees’ rights to organise and engage in a process of dialogue with their employer are recognised and protected in both labour relations legislation and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is a part of the Cana - dian Constitution. Unions in Canada acquire bargaining rights most commonly through certification or voluntary recogni - tion. Through certification, a union acquires the right to represent a specific group of employees – a “bar - gaining unit” – by demonstrating to the governing labour board that it has the support of the majority of employees it seeks to represent. In some jurisdic - tions, a union may be voluntarily recognised by the employer as representative of the employees. Finally, in exceptional circumstances, a union may be certified as representative of the employees by a labour board as a remedy for an unfair labour practice committed by an employer. Certification Procedures Two certification procedures are found in Canadian jurisdictions: “card-check” and “mandatory vote” certification. In card-check jurisdictions, a union that presents a sufficient number of signed membership cards may be certified solely on that basis and with - out an employee vote. In mandatory vote jurisdictions, unions must present a sufficient number of signed membership cards in order to trigger a secret bal - lot vote; the union will only be certified if it wins the support of more than 50% of employees who cast ballots. Some jurisdictions combine elements of both certification systems. Entitlement to Unionise However, not all employees in Canada are entitled to unionise. Indeed, personnel who exercise manage - rial or supervisory functions or who are employed in a confidential capacity in matters relating to labour
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