What you need to know about the Employment Standards Branch

• The Employment Standards Branch operates in nine locations across the province with professional staff working to ensure the requirements of the Employment Standards Act are enforced.
• Employees are entitled to the protection of the Employment Standards Act whether they are employed on a part-time, full-time, temporary or permanent basis, and whether they are paid by the hour, by salary or commission, or by piece rate. Employees are covered regardless of immigration status.
• The Employment Standards Branch administers and enforces the Employment Standards Act, which sets the minimum standards for wages and working conditions in workplaces in British Columbia.
• If an employer and an employee fail to resolve an issue themselves, an employee can make a complaint to the Employment Standards Branch.
• Over 60 per cent of all complaints received are resolved through education or mediation.
• If the complaint is not resolved through education or mediation it is either investigated or adjudicated by an Employment Standards Branch officer. If the officer finds that the employer failed to comply with the Employment Standards Act, penalties will be assessed against the employer. There are mandatory penalties for each contravention of the act, ranging from $500 for a first offence to $10,000.
• Through the Employment Standards Branch, government takes all possible steps to ensure the collection of wages. Collection measures may include the issuance of writs of seizure and sale, third-party demands and certificates of judgment against real property.
• On average, the Employment Standards Branch receives between 6,000 and 7,000 complaints a year and recovers $7 million in wages for workers every year. Over 100,000 calls are made to the branch's toll free information line.
• In fiscal year 2010-11, the branch provided 105 public seminars to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities under the Employment Standards Act.
• Employment Standards offers seminars and services, as well as online factsheets, in ten languages at: http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/welcome.htm
• If someone has questions about employment standards, they can speak with a staff member of the Employment Standards Branch in person, by phone (toll-free at 1 800 663-3316) or online at: http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb

Contact:

Melody Wey
Ministry of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government
250 508-5030