Difference between revisions of "Preliminary Matters for Employment Law (9:IV)"

The student should determine whether the employee belongs to a union. If the employee does not belong to a union, continue on to the next step  in the checklist: [[Checklist for Employment Law (9:II)#A. Preliminary Matters | Section IV.D: Determine if the Worker is an Employee or Independent Contractor]].  

If an employee is a union member and has a  complaint regarding the employer, he or she must first advise the union’s representative. The employee can contact either the shop steward at the workplace, or an external union representative, to see what the union can and will do. The ''ESA'' provides minimum standards that generally must be met, but collective agreements will contain other critical guidelines that the employer must follow. Usually, union contracts contain different or more onerous terms than the ''ESA'' provisions, and union members in their collective agreements can contract out of ''ESA'' limitations (''ESA'', s 3) regarding such matters as hours of work, overtime, statutory holidays, vacations, vacation pay, seniority retention, recall, and termination of employment or layoff. Whole sections of the ''ESA'' might not apply under a collective bargaining agreement as long as they have been addressed by the agreement. The collective agreement does not necessarily have to meet minimum guidelines for certain sections of the ''ESA''. For more information consult the Employment Standards Branch [http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/collagr.htm fact sheet on collective bargaining agreements]. 

Unions have a duty to represent their workers fairly. An employee who feels his union has not fairly represented his interests or advanced a grievance can bring a complaint under section 12 of the ''Labour Code''. These complaints are seldom successful, and so it is very important  to have the employee document all requests for help to the union and document the union’s response.