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

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.

Application of Provincial Laws

Marginal note:Provincial Crown corporations

265 The Governor in Council may by regulation direct that this Part applies in respect of any employment, or any class or classes of employment, on or in connection with a work or undertaking set out in the regulation that is, or is part of, a corporation that is an agent of Her Majesty in right of a province and whose activities are regulated, in whole or in part, pursuant to the Nuclear Safety and Control Act.

Marginal note:Exclusion from application

• 266 (1) The Governor in Council may by regulation exclude, in whole or in part, from the application of any of the provisions of this Part any employment, or any class or classes of employment, on or in connection with a work or undertaking set out in the regulation whose activities are regulated, in whole or in part, pursuant to the Nuclear Safety and Control Act.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (2) On the recommendation of the Minister, the Governor in Council may make regulations relating to labour standards in relation to employment that is subject to a regulation made pursuant to subsection (1).

Marginal note:Application of certain provisions

267 Subsections 121.2(3) to (8) apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of a regulation made pursuant to subsection 266(2) except that the references to “subsection (2)” in subsections 121.2(3) to (6) shall be read as references to subsection 266(2).

PART IVAdministrative Monetary Penalties

Interpretation and Application

Marginal note:Definitions

• 268 (1) The following definitions apply in this Part.

  department

  department means a department in, or other portion of, the federal public administration to which Part II applies, as provided under subsection 123(2). (ministère)

  employer

  employer has,

  • (a) in respect of a violation related to Part II, the same meaning as in subsection 122(1); and

  • (b) in respect of a violation related to Part III, the same meaning as in section 166. (employeur)

  penalty

  penalty means an administrative monetary penalty imposed under this Part for a violation. (pénalité)

• Marginal note:Application — department

  (2) This Part applies to a department and to persons employed in a department only in respect of a violation that is related to Part II.

Purpose

Marginal note:Purpose of Part

269 The purpose of this Part is to establish, as an alternative to the existing penal system and as a supplement to existing enforcement measures, a fair and efficient penalty system to promote compliance with Parts II and III of this Act.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 270 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) designating as a violation that may be proceeded with in accordance with this Part

    • (i) the contravention of any specified provision of Part II or III or of any regulations made under those Parts,

    • (ii) the contravention of any direction, or of any direction of any specified class of directions, issued under any provision of Part II or of any regulations made under that Part,

    • (iii) the contravention of any order, or of any order of any specified class of orders, made or issued under any provision of Part II or III or of any regulations made under those Parts, or

    • (iv) the failure to comply with any condition, or with any condition of any specified class of conditions, of a permit issued under section 176;

  • (b) respecting the determination of, or the method of determining, the amount payable as the penalty for each violation, penalties which may be different for individuals and for other persons and departments;

  • (c) respecting the circumstances under which, the criteria by which and the manner in which a penalty may be reduced;

  • (d) respecting the determination of a lesser amount than the penalty imposed that may be paid in complete satisfaction of the penalty if paid within the time and manner prescribed by regulation;

  • (e) respecting the service of documents required or authorized under this Part, including the manner and proof of service and the circumstances under which documents are deemed to be served;

  • (f) prescribing the method of calculating and determining the regular rate of wages for the purpose of section 288;

  • (g) prescribing anything that by this Part is to be prescribed; and

  • (h) generally, for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part.

• Marginal note:Restriction — amount of penalty

  (2) The amount that may be determined under any regulations made under paragraph (1)(b) as the penalty for a violation may not exceed $250,000.

Head’s Powers

Marginal note:Powers regarding notices of violation

271 The Head may

• (a) establish the form of notices of violation;

• (b) designate persons, or classes of persons, who are authorized to issue notices of violation; and

• (c) establish a short-form description for each violation to be used in notices of violation.

Marginal note:Delegation

272 Subject to any terms and conditions specified by the Minister, the Head may delegate to any qualified person or class of persons any of the powers the Head is authorized to exercise or any of the duties or functions the Head is authorized to perform for the purposes of this Part. The Head may make the delegation subject to any terms and conditions that the Head considers appropriate.

Commission of Violations

Marginal note:Violations

273 Every person or department that contravenes or fails to comply with a provision, direction, order or condition designated by regulations made under paragraph 270(1)(a) commits a violation and is liable to a penalty of an amount to be determined in accordance with the regulations.

Marginal note:Liability of parties to violation

274 If a corporation or a department commits a violation, any of the following persons who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the violation is a party to the violation and is liable to a penalty of an amount to be determined in accordance with the regulations, whether or not the corporation or department has been proceeded against in accordance with this Part:

• (a) any officer, director, agent or mandatary of the corporation;

• (b) any senior official in the department; or

• (c) any other person exercising managerial or supervisory functions in the corporation or department.

Marginal note:Proof of violation — employees

275 In any proceedings under this Part against a person or a department in relation to a violation, it is sufficient proof of the violation to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent or mandatary of the person or of the department, whether or not the employee or agent or mandatary has been identified or proceeded against in accordance with this Part.

Marginal note:Notice of violation

• 276 (1) If a person designated under paragraph 271(b) has reasonable grounds to believe that a person or a department has committed a violation, the designated person may issue a notice of violation and shall cause it to be served on the person or on the department in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (2) The notice of violation shall

  • (a) name the person or department that is believed to have committed the violation;

  • (b) set out the relevant facts surrounding the violation;

  • (c) set out the penalty for the violation;

  • (d) inform the person or department of their right to contest the facts of the alleged violation or the penalty, by way of review and appeal, and of the procedure to be followed to exercise that right;

  • (e) inform the person or department of the manner of paying the penalty set out in the notice; and

  • (f) inform the person or department that, if they do not pay the penalty or exercise their right referred to in paragraph (d), they will be considered to have committed the violation and that they are liable for the penalty set out in the notice.

• Marginal note:Copy given by employer

  (3) If the notice of violation is issued to an employer who has committed a violation by contravening a provision of Part II or a direction issued under that Part, the employer shall, without delay, give a copy of the notice to the work place committee or health and safety representative, as those terms are defined in subsection 122(1).

Rules About Violations

Marginal note:Certain defences not available

• 277 (1) A person or department named in a notice of violation does not have a defence by reason that the person or the department

  • (a) exercised due diligence to prevent the violation; or

  • (b) reasonably and honestly believed in the existence of facts that, if true, would exonerate the person or the department.

• Marginal note:Common law principles

  (2) Every rule and principle of the common law that renders any circumstance a justification or excuse in relation to a charge for an offence under Part II or III applies in respect of a violation to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Part.