Whereas local government elected officials are required to attend meetings, conventions, and conferences to perform their official duties, often requiring absences from their place of employment to do so; And whereas there are no provisions in provincial or federal employment legislation for local elected officials to allow them to take such absences as required to perform their official duties: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the provincial government for amendments to the Employment Standards Act to include unpaid leave of absence provisions to protect the employment of elected officials and allow them to attend BoardCouncil meetings, conventions, and conferences in the performance of their official duties; And be it further resolved that UBCM and FCM lobby the federal government for amendments to the Canada Labour Code to include unpaid leave of absence provisions to protect the employment of elected officials and allow them to attend BoardCouncil meetings, conventions, and conferences in the performance of their official duties.
Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour the Ministry is responsible for the Employment Standards Act the Act and regulations under that Act. The Act provides a number of job-protected leave entitlements for provincially regulated employees under certain circumstances. These leave entitlements generally allow employees to take time off work for specific life events e.g., serious illness, family care, or parental leave without losing their job and ensure that employees can return to their position or a comparable one at the end of the leave. Currently, the Act does not provide for specific job-protected leave entitlements for any elected officials to take leave to fulfill the duties of their elected office. Employees who wish to serve as elected officials may make arrangements for a leave of absence directly with their employer. Similarly, for unionized workplaces, provisions allowing for such leaves may be negotiated as part of the collective agreement. It is noted that the Local Government Act provides a limited leave entitlement for employees of local governments who wish to stand for local elected office, as such employees would otherwise be disqualified due to the prohibition on local government employees being nominated for, being elected to, or holding local elected office. British Columbias approach is aligned with almost all other Canadian jurisdictions, with only Saskatchewan and Quebec providing a job-protected unpaid leave entitlement for employees running for, andor holding, local elected office.