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:  

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:

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:


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.