Thought Leadership

Proposed Director Liability and Overtime Changes to the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code

By ​Rick Dunlop and Onye Njoku

On September 8, 2026, Bill 256 (Labour Standards Code (amended)) was introduced for first reading in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly by the Honourable Nolan Young, Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration. The Bill proposes the following changes to the Labour Standards Code:

• Directors’ Liability: The Governor in Council wouldbe empowered to make regulations making directors liable for unpaid pay, including regulations designating which employers or classes of employers are subject to or exempt from such liability.

• Overtime Threshold: Overtime pay, which is currently payable for hours worked in excess of 48 hours in a week, would be payable for hours worked in excess of 44 hours in a week.

• “Required or Permitted” Overtime: Overtime eligibility would extend to hours that an employer “required or permitted” the employee to work in excess of 44 hours in a week, removing the current limitation under which overtime pay is not payable if the work was not required by the employer. This language is similar to the Canada Labour Code’s overtime provision, which has been interpreted to mean that the “burden is not on the employee to ask permission to work the extra hours but on the employer to intervene and prevent. If the employer knows or ought to know that an employee is working overtime but fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the employee from working then the overtime must be compensated.”¹

• Tip Protection: Tips and gratuities would be legally protected as the property of the employee to whom or for whom they are given. The proposed changes also include rules to govern the pooling and redistribution of tips, including which employers, directors, and shareholders may participate.

Implementation

If passed, the overtime and tip provisions are expected to take effect on April 1, 2027. The directors’ liability measures would take effect on a date to be set by proclamation, following stakeholder consultation and the development of regulations.

It should be noted that the overtime provisions amended by this Bill are subject to numerous exemptions under the General Labour Standards Code Regulations. To date, the government has not introduced any changes to these exemptions.  However, Minister Young is reported to have expressly confirmed that the overtime changes will not apply to the construction or agricultural sectors.

While the Bill must still pass second and third readings and receive Royal Assent, we expect it to move quickly through the legislature. This is consistent with the province’s broader efforts to modernize workplace standards, including recent expansions to domestic violence leave, changes to the workers’ compensation system, and successive minimum wage increases.   Employers should prepare for the proposed changes to take effect on the date noted above and watch for further updates as Bill 256 moves through the legislature.

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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1. Fresco v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 2020 ONSC 75 at para. 18, aff’d at 2022 ONCA 115 ↩︎