Latest news with #JenniferWhiteside
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Minimum wage in B.C. is increasing to $17.85 per hour
British Columbia's Ministry of Labour is reminding people that the minimum wage is increasing to $17.85 an hour starting Sunday. That marks a 2.6 per cent jump from the previous minimum rate of $17.40. Resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based delivery and ride-hail services workers are included in the 2.6 per cent increase. The minimum agricultural piece rates for hand harvesters will increase by 2.6 per cent on Dec. 31. The province says the timing of the increase is different to ensure that crop producers won't need to adjust wages during the harvesting season. This year's pay jump marks the fourth time the government has tied annual minimum-wage increases to inflation. "Minimum wage earners are vulnerable to jumps in the price of groceries, rent and gas," said Minister of Labour Jennifer Whiteside in a February statement. "That's why we took action last year to ensure the minimum wage keeps up with the cost of living so workers don't fall further behind." In February 2024, the Employment Standards Act in B.C. was amended by the government to automatically increase minimum rates annually. The province cited Statistics Canada data saying there were about 130,000 workers in B.C. who earned minimum wage or less in 2024. Anastasia French of Living Wage B.C. — an organization that advocates for employers to pay a living wage, and for the government to support living wage policies — says that while annual increases to the minimum wage are a good thing, there is still too large a gap between the minimum wage and a living wage, which is defined by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives as the hourly rate that each of two parents working full-time needs to make in order to support a family of four in their community. "Unfortunately the costs of everyday essentials like food and rent keep rising at a much higher rate than general inflation," French said. "So while a 45-cent pay increase is definitely good for those workers, it's actually far short from what they need in order to get by." According to Living Wage B.C., the 2024 living wage in Metro Vancouver is $27.05, more than $9 higher than the updated minimum wage. French says the living wage in B.C. is highest in the country because of the housing crisis. She says a third of workers in B.C. do not earn a living wage, and those workers are more likely to be female and racialized. "In Metro Vancouver half of all racialized women don't earn a living wage," French said. "We really need the government to take action on the housing crisis, on food affordability, on better transit, on rolling out $10-a-day child care, all of these things will make substantial differences to everyday people."
Global News
6 days ago
- Business
- Global News
WorkSafeBC should issue refunds due to $2 billion surplus, CFIB says
A B.C. business group is calling for WorkSafeBC's huge surplus to be refunded to the businesses who have paid into it. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says WorkSafeBC is sitting on a surplus of $2 billion, which is actually above its funding target. The federation wants WorkSafeBC to follow the lead of ICBC and BC Hydro and return some of that surplus to ratepayers. 'We know that other provinces, such as Ontario, Manitoba, have been able to keep rates stable and return funds back to the employers that paid into it,' Kailth Nanayakkara with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses told Global News. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Manitoba just announced $122 million in rebates. Ontario's announced a combined $4 billion while keeping rates stable and lower than B.C.'s' 2:07 New WorkSafe tips, gratuities rules criticized by hospitality industry However, WorkSafeBC says the surplus allows it to keep rates low and stable. Story continues below advertisement 'The WorkSafe board has worked very, very hard to maintain predictability and stability in the WorkSafe premiums over the last number of years,' Jennifer Whiteside, minister of labour for B.C. said. 'And in fact, those premiums haven't changed since 2018 and they are lower now than they were in 2014.' In 2017, the B.C. Liberal government said it was planning to return those surplus funds to employers but that did not go through as the BC NDP won the provincial election.
CBC
15-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
B.C. NDP introduce bill to eliminate mandatory sick notes for short-term work absences
British Columbia's labour minister is moving to eliminate sick note requirements for short-term absences from work in an effort to give doctors and nurses more time with patients. The province said Tuesday that Jennifer Whiteside introduced Bill 11, which would amend the Employment Standards Act to clarify when employers can and cannot request a sick note from workers. In December, Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, called for reducing mandatory sick notes. Canadian doctors spend an estimated 1.5 million hours writing sick notes every year, according to the association. The B.C. College of Family Physicians made a similar plea in January. Right now, B.C. workers who have been employed with an organization for more than 90 days are entitled to up to five paid and three unpaid days of job-protected illness or injury leave — often referred to as sick leave or sick days — per calendar year. According to the provincial website, employers can request "reasonably sufficient proof" of illness, which can include a doctor's note, a receipt from a drugstore or pharmacy or a medical bracelet from the hospital. The changes in Bill 11 will clarify that employers can't specifically request — and employees are not required to provide — a sick note written by a physician, nurse practitioner or registered nurse as proof that the employee's short-term absence from work was related to illness or injury. A firm set of regulations will be established with input from stakeholders, the province said, and will define what constitutes a short-term absence. Eliminating sick note requirements was a key promise in the B.C. NDP's provincial election campaign last fall. "Requiring a sick patient to leave their home can do more harm than good," Dr. Charlene Lui, the association's president, said in a media release. "It can delay the patient's recovery time, it can put other patients at risk of infection, and can cause sicker patients to wait longer to see the doctor." The province expects the new rules to be in place prior to the fall respiratory illness season.
