Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador 2018 Chapter 32

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cL-2
as amended

1. The Labour Standards Act is amended by adding immediately after section 6 the following:

Confidentiality

6.1 (1) A person shall keep confidential all information that comes to his or her knowledge in the administration of Parts VII to VII.7 or relating to the exercise of his or her powers and duties under those Parts.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an employer or a person employed by an employer may disclose information that comes to his or her knowledge where

(a) the employee to whom the information relates consents to the disclosure;

(b) the disclosure is required by this Act or another Act or regulation; or

(c) the disclosure is required by the employer for the administration of Parts VII to VII.7 or to exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed on the employer under those Parts.

2. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 43.32 the following:

PART VII.7
FAMILY VIOLENCE LEAVE

Definitions

43.33 In this Part,

(a) "family violence" means an act or omission described in section 3 of the Family Violence Protection Act; and

(b) "parent" means

(i) a parent of a child,

(ii) the spouse of a parent of a child or a person living with a parent of a child,

(iii) a person with whom a child has been placed for the purpose of adoption,

(iv) a foster parent of a child, or

(v) a person who has the care or custody of a child, and is considered to be like a close relative, whether or not that person is related to the child by blood or adoption.

Entitlement to leave

43.34 (1) An employee, having been employed with the same employer for a continuous period of 30 days, shall be granted by his or her employer a period of family violence leave of 3 days paid leave and 7 days unpaid leave in a year where the employee or a person to whom the employee is a parent or caregiver has been directly or indirectly subjected to, a victim of, impacted or seriously affected by family violence or has witnessed family violence by

(a) a person who is or has been a family member;

(b) a person who is or has been in an intimate relationship or who is living or has lived with the employee;

(d) a person who is or has been a caregiver to the employee; or

(e) any other person who is a member of a class of persons prescribed in the regulations.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an employee shall not be granted a leave of absence under this Part unless it is

(a) to allow the employee or a person to whom the employee is a parent or caregiver to seek and receive medical attention, counselling or other services from a health professional for physical, psychological or emotional harm or an injury or disability that is a result of the family violence;

(b) to allow the employee or a person to whom the employee is a parent or caregiver to seek and receive services provided by a transition house, a policing agency, the government of Canada, the government of a province or municipality or any organization that provides services to persons who have been directly or indirectly subjected to, a victim of, impacted or seriously affected by family violence or have witnessed family violence;

(d) to allow the employee or a person to whom the employee is a parent or caregiver to seek and receive legal services or assistance including services or assistance with respect to his or her participation in or the enforcement of a legal proceeding relating to or as a result of the family violence; or

(e) for a purpose prescribed in the regulations.

(3) An employee who wishes to take a leave of absence under this Part may be required to provide the employer with reasonable verification of the necessity of the leave in accordance with the regulations.

(4) The wages to which an employee is entitled under subsection (1) shall be calculated by multiplying the employee's hourly rate of pay by the average number of hours worked in a day in the 3 weeks immediately preceding the family violence leave.

(5) An unused portion of the period of leave provided for in this section expires at the end of the year in which it was granted.

Notice

43.35 (1) An employee who intends to take family violence leave under this Part shall give written notice to his or her employer as soon as possible before the leave is to begin of that intention, unless there is a valid reason why that notice cannot be given.

(2) An employee who gives notice under subsection (1) shall include in that written notice to the employer the length of the leave of absence that the employee intends to take.

Employee protection

43.36 (1) An employer shall not dismiss an employee or give notice of dismissal to an employee because an employee intends to take, applies for or takes a leave of absence under this Part.

(2) Where an employee is dismissed by his or her employer contrary to subsection (1), the onus of proving that the reason for dismissal is unrelated to the family violence leave rests with the employer.

(3) An employer shall reinstate an employee at the end of his or her leave of absence under this Part on terms and conditions that are not less beneficial than those that subsisted before the leave of absence began.

(4) Unless the employer and the employee otherwise agree, a period of leave under this Part does not count towards the application of the rights, benefits and privileges conferred by this Act upon an employee, but the period worked upon resumption of employment after leave shall be considered, for the purpose of this Act, to be continuous with the period worked before the leave.

Regulations

43.37 The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) prescribing classes of persons for the purpose of paragraph 43.34(1)(e);

(b) prescribing a purpose for which an employee may be granted a leave of absence under this Part;

(c) respecting the verification required under subsection 43.34(3), including the types of documents and records that may be used as verification and from whom they will be accepted; and

(d) generally, to give effect to this Part.

Commencement

3. This Act comes into force on January 1, 2019.