Manitoba government introduces bill to extend parental leave to 63 weeks

New legislation proposed by the Manitoba government would make a handful of changes to the province's employment standards, ranging from extending parental leave to changing the rules for unionized workers' complaints.

Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen introduced the legislation in the Manitoba Legislature Tuesday. If passed, the bill would amend the province's Employment Standards Code, which applies to most Manitoba workers who aren't self-employed or regulated by the federal government.

One of the amendments would extend parental leave in the province to 63 from 37 weeks, more in line with Liberal legislation granting 18-month leave to federal employees that came into effect on Dec. 3.

Another would create a new, 17-week leave period to allow employees to care for a critically ill adult family member.

"We know that raising a family is one of life's most rewarding challenges," Pedersen said in a press release Tuesday.

"We are pleased to introduce measures to provide additional flexibility for parents to care for their children, and make it easier for families to care for loved ones who are critically ill."

The bill would also forbid all unionized workers from filing complaints with Manitoba Employment Standards itself.

In a press release Tuesday, the province said that's because collective agreements already include grievance processes for handling disputes.

'Playing politics': NDP

Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew accused the province of "playing politics" with longer parental leave, pointing to an NDP private member's bill from last year that would have extended leave to 18 months. The Tories voted against that bill at the time, Kinew said.

Kinew called the change to complaints from unionized employees an attack on workers, and said the Progressive Conservative government must have known the NDP would not support that aspect of the bill.

"Essentially, what they're trying to do is use 18-month parental leave as a wedge against us, knowing that we stand up for working people and we're not going to abide by this attack in the one provision," he said.

"What I would say is give us a clean vote on parental leave. We'll support it."

A spokesperson for Pedersen said the amendments are all to the same statute — that is, the Employment Standards Code — and Kinew and other MLAs will have to make a decision on the merit of the bill as a whole.

"That's a political decision for him to make, and for members of his caucus to consider the merits of the legislation, and they're welcome to come forward at committee stage to share any of their thoughts on that."

• Read the Manitoba Employment Standards Code

He added the NDP private member's bill that would have extended parental leave circumvented consultation with the Labour Management Review Committee, which includes labour and management representatives.

Red-tape reduction

The Progressive Conservative legislation would also give the director of Employment Standards the authorization to refuse complaints deemed frivolous or vexatious, and create provisions to let employees and employers enter into agreements about work hours that fall outside the Employment Code's standards, as long as certain conditions are met.

If passed, the bill would increase the minimum age of employment from 12 to 13 — as per new UN regulations that came into effect in Canada last year — and do away with a rule requiring employers to get a permit to hire people under 16. Instead, employers would need to make sure applicants have a certificate showing they completed a course in work readiness.

Pedersen said the changes reduce red tape and modernize the department's functions.

"From Day 1, our government has worked to repair the services we are entrusted to provide and sure the regulatory system is fair, accountable and responsive to the needs of Manitobans today and in the future," he said in the release.

If passed, extended parental leave would come into effect one the legislation gets royal assent, the province said. Other changes would take effect when the bill is proclaimed.