Employment Standards

Employment Standards staff help employees and employers learn about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

Questions about the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers in Manitoba? Call our general inquiry lines at 204-945-3352 or toll free in Manitoba at 1-800-821-4307.

Claims and application forms can be submitted electronically to the Employment Standards email address indicated on those forms.

Announcements

Change to Service

Unscheduled drop-in services for the Employment Standards branch are not available at this time. Please contact us for assistance or to schedule an appointment.

We are pleased to support you by phone at 204-945-3352 (in Winnipeg) or 1-800-821-4307 (toll free). You can also access our information and services online.

Attention Employers

Bereavement Leave Update:

As of May 30, 2023 Bereavement Leave now includes Unpaid Leave for Death of a Family Member and Unpaid Leave for Loss of a Pregnancy. The leave now allows eligible employees to take up to five days off instead of the previous three days.

Unpaid Leave for Loss of a Pregnancy applies to the following employees:

The employee who experienced the loss of pregnancy
That employee’s spouse or common-law partner or their former spouse or common-law partner
The current spouse or common-law partner of the former spouse or common-law partner
An employee who had undertaken to be the guardian of the child born as a result of the pregnancy
Or is the spouse or common-law partner of a person who had undertaken to be the guardian of the child born as a result of the pregnancy

More information can be found on the factsheet.

Minimum Wage Increase - The Government will increase minimum wage to $15.30 per hour on October 1, 2023.

The Employment Standards Code now allows government to approve changes to the minimum wage in addition to the current indexing formula. Any changes will be posted on our website 30 days before they come into effect.

Employer Registration Application Update:

As of January 31, 2023, Employment Standards will only accept the new version of the Employer Registration Application. No previous versions of the form will be processed. The new version of the form is available here.

As of March 15, 2022 employees will still be eligible to take the Public Health Emergency Leave under the following circumstances:

the employee is under medical investigation, supervision or treatment related to COVID-19;
the employee, as a result of information or directions issued or provided by a health professional
- is subject to self-isolation or any other measure that results in their inability to work;
the employee is, in the opinion of a health professional more susceptible to COVID-19 because the employee
- has an underlying medical condition,
- is undergoing medical treatment, or
- has contracted another illness;
the employee is absent from work as a result of the side effects from being vaccinated against COVID-19;
the employer directs the employee not to work because the employer is concerned about the employee's exposure to others;
the employee is providing care, support or assistance to a family member as a result of COVID-19, including but not limited to, school and daycare closures;
the employee is directly affected by travel restrictions and cannot reasonably be expected to travel to their workplace.

To reduce strain on our health system, employers cannot request a note from a doctor, nurse or other health professional to verify an employee’s need to take the leave. However, employers can request reasonable verification of the need for the leave. For more information, please see the Public Health Emergency Leave fact sheet.

Amendment to the Right to Refuse Work on a Sunday Update:

As of December 3, 2021 employees have the right to refuse work on a Sunday except in the following circumstances:

Employees who agreed in writing at the time of being hired to work on Sundays;
Employees under a collective agreement that provides that the employee must not refuse to work on Sundays; and
Employees who work in a retail business establishment where the number of persons, including the owner, employed for the sale of goods or services does not ordinarily exceed four persons at any one time.

Temporary Deemed Termination Provisions Update:

The temporary deemed termination provisions ended when the State of Emergency expired at 4:00 pm on October 21, 2021.

Termination is triggered after an employee is laid off for a total of 8 weeks within a 16 week-period excluding any time between March 1, 2020 and October 21, 2021.

For more information, please see the Termination of Employment Factsheet.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – September 30

The Manitoba government is recognizing the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 as a day of observance. It is not a general holiday; therefore, there are no restrictions limiting a businesses ability to be open on that day and no requirement to pay employees general holiday pay. Normal wage rates would apply to employees who work on September 30, 2023.

On May 12 2021, the Province of Manitoba passed a new paid COVID-19 Vaccination Leave. The new leave will provide employees up to three hours of paid leave for each time they are vaccinated against COVID-19. For more information, please see the COVID-19 Vaccination Leave fact sheet.

REMINDER

Young Employees - Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course is available for 13, 14 or 15 years old to complete before they begin work. This course replaces the requirement for a child employment permit. For more information read the Young Worker factsheet or start the course.

**Please DO NOT submit the certificatie of Completion to Employment Standards when you are hiring a young person. These certificates must be kept as part of an employer’s records.**

Certificate from a health professional - The requirement for an employee to provide a certificate from a health professional in respect of a leave provided for in The Employment Standards Code is temporarily suspended.

Resources

More information about COVID-19 and Manitoba workplaces is available here.

For accurate, up-to-date, and fact-based information on COVID-19, please visit manitoba.ca/covid19

The Government of Canada is taking immediate, significant and decisive action to help Canadians facing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Please visit Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan for details.

Minimum Wage

Minimum wage is $15.30 per hour as of October 1, 2023.

Construction minimum wage rates for the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) and Heavy sectors are contained in the Regulations to The Construction Industry Wages Act.

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