The federal government’s legislation, known as the Canadian Labour Code, lays out the employment rights and duties of workers in industries subject to federal regulations, like banks and telecommunications firms. The majority of other professions are governed by provincial and territorial regulations. Each province and territory has its own employment and labor regulations regarding appropriate benefits and rights, work hours, and working conditions.
Employers are required by Canada’s Employment Act and the Federal Contractors Programme to work towards increasing employment opportunities for particular groups of individuals. They explicitly mandate that organizations and industries under federal regulations give equal opportunities and rights to women, Native Americans, foreigners, people with disabilities, and members of visible minorities. All Canadian and foreign workers are protected by the country’s legislative power.
Employment rights as a foreign worker are expressed under the following headings:
A. Right on the Job
- The right to receive payment for their labor.
- The right to work in a safe environment and an appropriate setting.
- Right to benefit from sick or holiday leaves or other areas of working life.
- Right to work 5 days a week, in the space of 8 hours. Approximately 30–40 hours per week.
- Right to be entitled to overtime pay when working hours exceed 40 hours a week.
- The right to maintain their work permit and passport.
The giver of employment must provide a copy of the employment agreement to the foreign workers on or before their first day at work. The agreement must include details such as employment status, pay scale, and working environment. It should be signed by the worker and employer and written in either French or English.
B. Occupational Health and Safety Rights
A healthy and safe working environment is not to be compromised for workers, be they foreign or not. It is one of your employment rights as a foreign worker that companies shouldn’t joke with. Both a safe work environment and specifications for job safety training must be provided by the company. This includes supplying foreign workers with protective clothing or gear when needed, and instructions or instructional manuals on how to operate any machinery or equipment should be made available by the giver of employment.
Foreign workers have the right to be retained, not to be fired or denied compensation for refusing to work in hazardous conditions, and not to be made to perform any task they consider unsafe.
The giver of employment is required to investigate any report of workplace hazards given by the worker. The worker is at leverage to decline any offer of employment until both parties, i.e., the worker and his employer, agree that the hazard observed is resolved and the required tools for training are available for the effective execution of the job.
C. Right to Report Problems Concerning Employment
Foreign workers have every employment right to report issues of an unsafe work environment, dangerous or treacherous job demands, or illnesses and injuries on their bodies by the job to the provincial or territorial occupational health and safety authorities. A worker can also make contact with his or her provincial territory employment standard office if he suspects the absence of fair compensation or unfair treatment or that the employer shows non-compliance to the terms of the employment agreement. This is one of your employment rights as a foreign worker.
If a foreign worker is ill or injured, the employer has no power to prevent the worker from receiving the compensation benefits provided by the majority of the provinces and territories, as this is against the law.
D. Right to an Abuse-free Work Setting
An abusive-free working environment is one of your employment rights as a foreign worker, which cannot be overemphasized. An employer of labor must take appropriate measures to ensure that there is no abuse at work. This indicates that a foreign worker is protected from financial, psychological, sexual, or physical abuse by the employer or anyone who operates on his behalf.
Any act that intimidates dominates, or isolates a foreign worker can be considered abuse, according to the website of the Canadian government.
The Canadian government proposed situations that may be termed abuse. They are Injury to the body, accusations or slurs, taking undue advantage, inappropriate sexual contact, Restriction of movements, Seizing a passport, work permit, or any other form of identification, Taking portions of financial obligations, Compelling workers to engage in fraudulent activities, The act of reporting a breach of an employment agreement by the employer often results in a reduction in rank or the sack of the worker.
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E. Responsibility of Employers to Provide Accommodation
There are some instances or circumstances in which particular individuals need to be treated differently to stop or lessen discrimination. In order to express employment rights as a foreign worker, it is, therefore, the responsibility of an employer to provide changes to a foreign worker’s work environment or assigned duties to enable the worker to perform their tasks with ease.
The responsibility and obligations to accommodate the employer cover the needs stemming from the discriminatory categories included in the Canadian Human Rights Act, constituting 11 discriminatory grounds. They include:
A person’s race, ethnicity, religion, age, skin color, gender, gender identity and expression, relationship status, family history, impairment, as well as an indication where a record of wrong acts has been annulled or an amnesty given.
Conclusion
In any country, including Canada, where one hopes and strives to work, having a clear understanding of one’s employment rights as a foreign worker provides one with a feeling of freedom and belonging. These employment rights protect the safety, incentives, and payments that come with being a worker or a foreign worker at the place of work.
Conclusively, neither the employer nor the country at large should jeopardize a foreign worker’s employment rights.
