At a glance: Key changes coming to Prince Edward Island’s Employment Standards Act

Murray L. Murphy, K.C., CPHR and Jacob E. Zelman

Prince Edward Island’s new Employment Standards Act (“ESA”) received Royal Assent on November 29, 2024, with an effective date to be to be fixed by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

PEI’s new ESA is the culmination of the review current legislation by the Employment Standards Act Comprehensive Review Panel (“Review Panel”) and various rounds of consultations with stakeholder groups, including the public, which began in October 2021.

The new ESA is intended to update the employment standards landscape in PEI to align with current and emerging legislative and workplace trends.

What follows is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all additions and amendments introduced by the new ESA, but instead a snapshot of key changes for employers to make note of.

Work hours

• Employees are now subject to a maximum work week of 44 hours (down from the previous maximum work week of 48 hours).
• language was added into the new ESA to allow for an employee’s work hours to be averaged to determine overtime.
• References to Sunday as the day of rest have been removed.

Vacation pay

• Increasing entitlements to vacation pay have been reduced from eight (8) years to five (5) years.
• Additional provisions have been provided for that relate to vacation pay for part-time, seasonal and short-term employees.
• An employee’s pay statement now must include the gross amount of any holiday pay and the gross amount of any pay related to paid leave.

Paid sick leave

• Unpaid sick leave will increase to four (4) days per year for an employee that has been employed by the same employer for 30 continuous days.
• An employee employed with the same employer for a continuous period of at least one (1) year is entitled to one (1) paid sick day in the second year of employment; two (2) paid sick days in the third year of employment; and three (3) paid sick days in the fourth year of employment and in each year following.

Medical leave

• A section providing for Medical Leave has been added to the new ESA.

Leave related to domestic violence, intimate partner violence or sexual violence

• The new ESA provisions have clarified the rate of pay under this section and that an employee is to provide written evidence to support their entitlement to leave under this section when requested by the employer.

Emergency leave

• An additional definition for “communicable disease” was added to this leave section.

Citizenship ceremony leave

• The new ESA includes entitlement to leave for an employee, continuously employed with the same employer for 90 days, up to one (1) day of unpaid leave to attend a citizenship ceremony to receive a certificate of citizenship.

Provisions relating to sexual harassment

• The Sexual Harassment section of the previous ESA has not been carried over to the new ESA. The Review Panel recommended this action on the basis that the Occupational Health and Safety Workplace Regulations are the appropriate domain to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace.

Termination or end of employment

• The entitlement period for notice of termination is reduced from six (6) months to 90 days (often referred to as a probationary period).
• The required notice period has also been amended.

What’s next?

It is anticipated that the new ESA will come into force later in 2025. Until this time, the current ESA remains in effect.

Employment agreements, policies, and handbooks will need to be updated to accord with the changes introduced by the new ESA. Organizations are encouraged to reach out to our Labour & Employment Group to ensure all changes introduced by the new ESA are accounted for.

This client update is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions about the above, please contact the authors, or a member of our Labour and Employment Group.

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