Bill C-12
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Notification
of steps to
eliminate
danger
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(14) An employer shall inform the work
place committee or the health and safety
representative of any steps taken by the
employer under subsection (13).
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Employees on
shift during
work
stoppage
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128.1 (1) Unless otherwise provided in a
collective agreement or other agreement,
employees who are affected by a stoppage of
work arising from the application of section
127.1, 128 or 129 or subsection 145(2) are
deemed, for the purpose of calculating wages
and benefits, to be at work during the stoppage
until work resumes or until the end of the
scheduled work period or shift, whichever
period is shorter.
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Employees on
next shift
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(2) Unless otherwise provided in a
collective agreement or other agreement,
employees who are due to work on a
scheduled work period or shift after a shift
during which there has been a stoppage of
work arising from the application of section
127.1, 128 or 129 or subsection 145(2) are
deemed, for the purpose of calculating wages
and benefits, to be at work during their work
period or shift, unless they have been given at
least one hour's notice not to attend work.
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Alternative
work
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(3) An employer may assign reasonable
alternative work to employees who are
deemed under subsection (1) or (2) to be at
work.
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Repayment
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(4) Unless otherwise provided in a
collective agreement or other agreement,
employees who are paid wages or benefits
under subsection (1) or (2) may be required by
the employer to repay those wages and
benefits if it is determined, after all avenues of
redress have been exhausted by the employee
who exercised rights under section 128 or 129,
that the employee exercised those rights
knowing that no circumstances existed that
would warrant it.
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Investigation
by health and
safety officer
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129. (1) On being notified that an employee
continues to refuse to use or operate a machine
or thing, work in a place or perform an activity
under subsection 128(13) , the health and
safety officer shall without delay investigate
or cause another officer to investigate the
matter in the presence of the employer, the
employee and one other person who is
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Employees'
representa- tive if more than one employee
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(2) If the investigation involves more than
one employee, those employees may
designate one employee from among
themselves to be present at the investigation.
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Absence of
any person
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(3) A health and safety officer may proceed
with an investigation in the absence of any
person mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) if
that person chooses not to be present.
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Decision of
health and
safety officer
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(4) A health and safety officer shall, on
completion of an investigation made under
subsection (1), decide whether the danger
exists and shall immediately give written
notification of the decision to the employer
and the employee.
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Continuation
of work
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(5) Before the investigation and decision of
a health and safety officer under this section,
the employer may require that the employee
concerned remain at a safe location near the
place in respect of which the investigation is
being made or assign the employee reasonable
alternative work, and shall not assign any
other employee to use or operate the machine
or thing, work in that place or perform the
activity referred to in subsection (1) unless
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Decision of
health and
safety officer
re danger
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(6) If a health and safety officer decides
that the danger exists, the officer shall issue
the directions under subsection 145(2) that
the officer considers appropriate, and an
employee may continue to refuse to use or
operate the machine or thing, work in that
place or perform that activity until the
directions are complied with or until they are
varied or rescinded under this Part.
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Appeal
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(7) If a health and safety officer decides
that the danger does not exist, the employee is
not entitled under section 128 or this section
to continue to refuse to use or operate the
machine or thing, work in that place or
perform that activity , but the employee, or a
person designated by the employee for the
purpose , may appeal the decision, in writing,
to an appeals officer within ten days after
receiving notice of the decision.
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When
collective
agreement
exists
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130 . The Minister may, on the joint
application of the parties to a collective
agreement, if the Minister is satisfied that the
agreement contains provisions that are at least
as effective as those under sections 128 and
129 in protecting the employees to whom the
agreement relates from danger to their health
or safety, exclude the employees from the
application of those sections for the period
during which the agreement remains in force.
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Compensa- tion under other laws not precluded
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131. The fact that an employer or employee
has complied with or failed to comply with
any of the provisions of this Part may not be
construed as affecting any right of an
employee to compensation under any statute
relating to compensation for employment
injury or illness , or as affecting any liability or
obligation of any employer or employee under
any such statute.
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Pregnant and Nursing Employees |
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Cease to
perform job
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132. (1) In addition to the rights conferred
by section 128 and subject to this section, an
employee who is pregnant or nursing may
cease to perform her job if she believes that, by
reason of the pregnancy or nursing, continuing
any of her current job functions may pose a
risk to her health or to that of the foetus or
child. On being informed of the cessation, the
employer, with the consent of the employee,
shall notify the work place committee or the
health and safety representative.
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Consult
medical
practitioner
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(2) The employee must consult with a
qualified medical practitioner, as defined in
section 166, of her choice as soon as possible
to establish whether continuing any of her
current job functions poses a risk to her health
or to that of the foetus or child.
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Provision no
longer
applicable
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(3) Without prejudice to any other right
conferred by this Act, by a collective
agreement or other agreement or by any terms
and conditions of employment, once the
medical practitioner has established whether
there is a risk as described in subsection (1),
the employee may no longer cease to perform
her job under subsection (1).
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Employer
may reassign
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(4) For the period during which the
employee does not perform her job under
subsection (1), the employer may, in
consultation with the employee, reassign her
to another job that would not pose a risk to her
health or to that of the foetus or child.
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Status of
employee
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(5) The employee, whether or not she has
been reassigned to another job, is deemed to
continue to hold the job that she held at the
time she ceased to perform her job functions
and shall continue to receive the wages and
benefits that are attached to that job for the
period during which she does not perform the
job.
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Complaints when Action against Employees |
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Complaint to
Board
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133. (1) An employee, or a person
designated by the employee for the purpose,
who alleges that an employer has taken action
against the employee in contravention of
section 147 may, subject to subsection (3),
make a complaint in writing to the Board of
the alleged contravention.
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Time for
making
complaint
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(2) The complaint shall be made to the
Board not later than ninety days after the date
on which the complainant knew, or in the
Board's opinion ought to have known, of the
action or circumstances giving rise to the
complaint.
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Restriction
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(3) A complaint in respect of the exercise of
a right under section 128 or 129 may not be
made under this section unless the employee
has complied with subsection 128(6) or a
health and safety officer has been notified
under subsection 128(13), as the case may be ,
in relation to the matter that is the
subject-matter of the complaint.
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Exclusion of
arbitration
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(4) Notwithstanding any law or agreement
to the contrary, a complaint made under this
section may not be referred by an employee to
arbitration or adjudication .
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Duty and
power of
Board
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(5) On receipt of a complaint made under
this section , the Board may assist the parties
to the complaint to settle the complaint and
shall, if it decides not to so assist the parties or
the complaint is not settled within a period
considered by the Board to be reasonable in
the circumstances, hear and determine the
complaint.
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Burden of
proof
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(6) A complaint made under this section in
respect of the exercise of a right under section
128 or 129 is itself evidence that the
contravention actually occurred and, if a party
to the complaint proceedings alleges that the
contravention did not occur, the burden of
proof is on that party.
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Board orders
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134. If, under subsection 133(5), the Board
determines that an employer has contravened
section 147 , the Board may, by order, require
the employer to cease contravening that
section and may, if applicable, by order,
require the employer to
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Policy Health and Safety Committees |
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Establish- ment mandatory
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134.1 (1) For the purposes of addressing
health and safety matters that apply to the
work, undertaking or business of an employer,
every employer who normally employs
directly three hundred or more employees
shall establish a policy health and safety
committee and, subject to section 135.1,
select and appoint its members.
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Exception
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(2) An employer who normally employs
directly more than twenty but fewer than three
hundred employees may also establish a
policy committee.
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More than one
committee
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(3) An employer may establish more than
one policy committee with the agreement of
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Duties of
policy
committee
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(4) A policy committee
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Information
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(5) A policy committee may request from
an employer any information that the
committee considers necessary to identify
existing or potential hazards with respect to
materials, processes, equipment or activities
in any of the employer's work places.
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Access
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(6) A policy committee shall have full
access to all of the government and employer
reports, studies and tests relating to the health
and safety of employees in the work place, or
to the parts of those reports, studies and tests
that relate to the health and safety of
employees, but shall not have access to the
medical records of any person except with the
person's consent.
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Meetings of
committee
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(7) A policy committee shall meet during
regular working hours at least quarterly and, if
other meetings are required as a result of an
emergency or other special circumstances, the
committee shall meet as required during
regular working hours or outside those hours.
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Work Place Health and Safety Committees |
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Establish- ment mandatory
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135. (1) For the purposes of addressing
health and safety matters that apply to
individual work places, and subject to this
section, every employer shall, for each work
place controlled by the employer at which
twenty or more employees are normally
employed, establish a work place health and
safety committee and, subject to section
135.1, select and appoint its members .
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Exception
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(2) An employer is not required to establish
a committee under subsection (1) for a work
place that is on board a ship in respect of
employees whose base is the ship.
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Exemption by
Minister
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(3) On receipt of a request from an
employer that is submitted in the form and
manner prescribed, if any is prescribed, and if
the Minister is satisfied after considering the
factors set out in subsection (4) that the nature
of work being done by employees at the work
place is relatively free from risks to health and
safety, the Minister may, by order, on any
terms and conditions that are specified in the
order , exempt the employer from the
requirement to establish a work place
committee.
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Factors to be
considered
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(4) The following factors are to be
considered for the purposes of subsection (3):
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Posting of
request
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(5) A request for an exemption must be
posted in a conspicuous place or places where
it is likely to come to the attention of
employees, and be kept posted until the
employees are informed of the Minister's
decision in respect of the request.
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Exemption if
collective
agreement
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(6) If, under a collective agreement or any
other agreement between an employer and the
employer's employees , a committee of
persons has been appointed and the committee
has, in the opinion of a health and safety
officer, a responsibility for matters relating to
health and safety in the work place to such an
extent that a work place committee
established under subsection (1) for that work
place would not be necessary,
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Duties of
committee
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(7) A work place committee, in respect of
the work place for which it is established,
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