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THE WAY CANADIANS WORK HAS CHANGED
As workplaces evolve, so too must the labour standards in those
workplaces. It’s clear that ever-increasing global competition,
rapid technological changes and socio-demographic shifts are
fundamentally altering the way businesses operate and the way
Canadians work.
The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment,
Workforce Development and Labour, published the What We
Heard Report on the results of consultations by the Government
of Canada on modernizing federal labour standards to better
reflect the realities of the 21st century workplace.
Federal labour standards establish the basic rights of employ-ees
regarding hours of work, holidays, leaves, wages and
other working conditions in federally regulated industries,
such as banking, telecommunications and interprovincial and
international transportation.
From May 2017 to March 2018, the consultations heard from
employers and employer organizations, unions and labour organi-zations,
experts and individual Canadians about their perspectives
on what a robust and modern set of federal labour standards
should look like.
One strong message was repeated throughout the consulta-tions:
The way Canadians work has changed, but federal labour
standards have not.
Another message that emerged among employers and employer
organizations was that federal labour standards should be more
flexible to allow employers to operate nimbly, remain competi-tive
and adapt to industry-specific realities. Unions and labour
organizations, conversely, recommended that federal labour stan-dards
be raised to meet or exceed the highest standards in the
provinces and territories.
CANADIAN BUSINESSES STRUGGLING WITH
LABOUR SHORTAGES
Over 39 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
are struggling to find new employees and the problem will not
improve for at least a decade, according to a new study released
from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
LABOUR SHORTAGES ARE
AFFECTING GROWTH FOR
MANY CANADIAN BUSINESSES
AND THIS HAS AN IMPACT ON
CANADA’S COMPETITIVENESS.
– PIERRE CLÉROUX,
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK OF CANADA
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HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2018 ❚ 7
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