Bill SK-5 Saskatchewan Employment Act

Status: Royal Assent — May 13, 2025. This Bill has passed but is not yet in force — it comes into effect by Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

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WHO GAINS POWER

• The Director of Employment Standards gains new authority to order employers to stop discriminatory action, reinstate employees, pay lost wages and remove reprimands from employment records — without going to court
• Employees gain a new appeal route to an adjudicator if they disagree with the Director's decision
• Unions gain the ability to negotiate work schedule and meal break rules directly with employers — without needing a government permit
• Government gains new regulation-making authority to define who counts as an employee, what gratuities are, and who qualifies for bereavement leave

⚠️ Order in Council coming into force — government decides when this Bill takes effect; no fixed date is set in the legislation

WHO LOSES POWER

• Employers lose flexibility on gratuities — they can no longer withhold or pocket tips; pooling is only allowed between employees under prescribed conditions
• Employers face a higher bar before requesting a medical certificate from a sick employee — only after 5 consecutive days absent or 2 or more non-consecutive sick days in 12 months
• The group termination notice threshold rises from 10 to 25 employees — meaning more employers can terminate groups without triggering the formal notice requirement

⚠️ Group termination threshold raised — employers can now let go of up to 24 employees at once without giving formal group notice to the Minister or the union; previously the trigger was 10

WHO GAINS MONEY

• Employees gain up to 27 weeks of job protection for serious illness or injury (up from 12 weeks) — aligned with the maximum duration of federal EI benefits
• Employees gain a new long-term interpersonal violence and sexual violence leave of up to 16 weeks (on top of the existing 10-day short-term leave)
• Employees experiencing pregnancy loss can now access maternity leave if the loss occurs up to 20 weeks before the estimated due date (up from 13 weeks)
• Bereavement leave now explicitly covers pregnancy loss — not just death — and can be taken up to 6 months after the loss (previously had to be taken within one week before or after the funeral)
• Employees gain explicit protection that tips cannot be deducted or withheld by employers
• Employers can now deduct for wage advances, voluntary training costs and housing/moving allowances — with employee consent

WHO LOSES MONEY

• Employers who take discriminatory action now face a direct order to pay lost wages — without the employee having to go through a full court process
• Employers convicted of offences face fines up to $10,000 (first offence), $25,000 (second) and $50,000 (third or subsequent) — now explicitly includes failing to comply with a Director's order

THE CATCH

⚠️ Group termination threshold change cuts both ways — framed as reducing red tape, but it means fewer workers get formal notice protection when mass layoffs happen

⚠️ Appeals don't pause employer obligations — filing an appeal against a Director's order does not automatically stay that order; the employer must still comply unless the Director or adjudicator specifically grants a stay on their own motion

⚠️ Employer onus in discriminatory action cases — once an employee shows they engaged in a protected activity, the burden shifts to the employer to prove the action was taken for another reason; this is a meaningful shift in how these cases are decided

⚠️ Mandatory Act review drops from 5 years to 10 years — less frequent oversight of whether the law is working

⚠️ Key definitions left to regulation — "gratuities," expanded employee categories and additional bereavement leave eligibility are all defined by government regulation, not in the Bill itself; government can change these definitions without a legislature vote

[Source: Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly — Bill No. 5, The Saskatchewan Employment Amendment Act, 2024, 30th Legislature, 1st Session, introduced by the Hon. Jim Reiter, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety]