Employment standards

Workers in the province have a right to a certain set of employment standards. These requirements are set out in the Employment Standards Act and apply to most provincially regulated workplaces. Employers must observe these minimum standards but may offer their employees more benefits.

In New Brunswick, the minimum employment standards covered include:

• minimum wage, overtime and minimum pay for reporting for work
• paid public holidays and vacation time and pay
• maternity leave, child-care leave
• other employment leaves such as critical illness leave, leave due to intimate partner and sexual violence 
• employment of children under 16
• employee rights including if terminated, laid off, or dismissed and unfair employer actions
• Registry of employers of foreign workers
• rules of payment and payroll records including equal pay for equal work

The act does not distinguish among part-time, full-time and casual employees. All employees, which include seasonal and construction workers, are entitled to the minimum employment rights.

Unionized employees are typically subject to a collective agreement. Every collective agreement must provide for at least the minimum standards set out in the act.

Note that employees who work in areas that fall under federal jurisdiction are covered by the Canada Labour Code. Those areas include things like railways, pipelines, ferries, radio and television, banks, cable systems, extra-provincial trucking and shipping, federal Crown Corporations and many First Nation activities.

There are some occupations which are not covered by the provincial act including people who work in a private home for the homeowner (babysitters, home care workers, and construction workers who are employed directly by the homeowner), independent contractors and in certain situations, people who provide agricultural services to small family farms.

Employees who believe that their employer may be in violation of the Employment Standards Act are encouraged to contact the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour for assistance and to discuss the circumstances surrounding their complaint. 

You can file a complaint by:

• phone, toll-free at 1-888-452-2687
• by email: [email protected]
• making an appointment at the Employment Standards Branch nearest you to speak with an officer
• writing to us at the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, Employment Standards Branch, P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5H1.
• printing and completing the complaint form and send it to us either by fax at 1-506-453-3806 or by mail at the above-noted address.
• completing and submitting the online complaint form

An employment standards officer will conduct a neutral investigation into any complaint, both confidential and otherwise, to try to resolve the issues between the parties. We will not reveal your name or other pertinent information to your employer without your permission. However, sometimes we cannot proceed with an investigation without doing so, in which case it will be your decision to pursue the complaint or not.

Note that employers cannot dismiss, suspend, layoff, penalize, discipline, or discriminate against an employee for making a complaint or giving information against the employer with respect to the Employment Standards Act.

In the event either party is unsatisfied with the results of the investigation, they have the right to refer the matter to the Labour and Employment Board for adjudication. This is the final step in the complaint process.

Note: decisions rendered by the Labour and Employment Board, pursuant to the Employment Standards Act, are available in the database of the Canadian Legal Information Institute. Searches can be made by entering subject matter, sections of the Employment Standards Act, case names, year decision rendered, etc.

• Working NB
• Immigration NB
• Human Rights Commision 
• Making a complaint (PDF 134 KB)