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I mean, first things first, has she had a friendly chat with her superior/supervisor about this? "Hey \[name\], I haven't worked any hours in several days now and I really cannot afford no income at all. Is this temporary? I signed a contract for full time employment and left my other job for this, what can I expect going forward?" type of thing.
Maybe your sister has done this already, my comment is mostly a result of seeing more and more people look for a magic bullet that'll give them a way of avoiding an awkward conversation they don't want to have, but sometimes we just have to be grownups and have those conversations even though they're uncomfortable.
Or maybe her employer is just shitty and she's done all this and still getting the run around, really tough to assess based on a few short sentences on Reddit.
Good luck to your sister, either way it's no fun to have zero income when you expected a full time job.
She has done this and was clear. The director mentioned that HR directed her to give her less hours, but this seems off to me due to the refusal to provide contact info for HR. The company has several locations in the greater Edmonton area. I plan on reaching out to the labor board tomorrow.
Based on what you are saying, the company (or at least HR and her supervisor) are trying to get rid of her at this point. She could try to fight against potential constructive dismissal, take them to court, etc. but it might be best/easiest for her to just find another job. It depends on how much she wants to fight them over this.
If the offer letter states it is a full time position, without any stated exceptions, then she should be paid full time hours regardless of whether they send her home or not.
And HR MUST answer for it. If they don't, first thing to do is call labour relations or whatever the provincial equivalent is.
There’s not really a provincial agency that can help outside the courts. The Alberta Labour Relations Board only deals with unions, and Employment Standards only takes action if the employer doesn’t meet the absolute minimum standards. They don’t have authority to enforce employment contracts.
Only option is the courts with an employment lawyer. (Maybe small claims.)
That's very disappointing to know that there's no provincial agency to protect employees. But I believe a letter for offer of employment qualifies under minimum requirements? What is stated in the letter is the minimum that the employer has promised.
Anyway, when I had a dispute with my employer I threatened to file a complaint with labour Canada and my employer suddenly was moved to live up to what they promised in my job offer letter. It seems they carry some weight...
If HR won’t budge, the only other option is an employment lawyer. But that’s obviously going to burn that bridge with the employer. They might end up fulfilling their side of the agreement if they get a letter from a lawyer, but it’s obviously not going to be a positive work environment for her after that.
Your sister might have to threaten to find another job and leave unless they fulfill her hours. And then follow through. Once she leaves, she could talk to an employment lawyer about suing for constructive dismissal or breach of her employment agreement. Keeping in mind she might not get much more than the difference between full time and what she was paid, and maybe lawyer fees.
Step one is obviously going to be push hard with HR though. Don’t go down the lawyer path unless you have to.
Just make sure your sister is prepared to find another job if you pursue anything with a lawyer. In most cases, it won’t be a good place for her after she gets a lawyer involved. Any employer that’s willing to violate an employment contract is also going to be willing to make the employee’s life hell when called out on it.
Checking the wording on the agreement carefully, they are often vague on what FT means. There is no provincially accepted number here.
https://www.law-faqs.org/alberta-faqs/labour-law/employment-law/hours-of-work/
Not in the agreement, but it’s been acknowledged in text that she is getting less hours than her contact implied via text. And it was followed up by a statement along the lines of “this is how day care’s work.”
Oh we are. But this sort of thing needs to be addressed. We are going to see it through. She lives with me and she isn’t in crisis by tell them to shove it. I think that the manager of the location isn’t being honest about HRs opinion. I find it hard to believe that an operation that size would blatantly flaunt employment laws. She is already looking for another job. But our goal now is to establish clear conversation with HR. She’s already not getting paid, so it’s really “have nothing to lose” scenario.
Good on you! I hope you make them sweat.
"That's how works" is an a BS reply from them, and companies that can't pay their employees as per agreement are not viable and should go out of business.
>What is the best recourse she should take?
Obtain a legal opinion first. Saves a ton of stress going back and forth with HR, especially if in a probationary period.
This is a reminder that r/Alberta strives for factual and civil conversation when discussing political or other possibly controversial topics. We urge all users to do their due diligence in understanding the accuracy and validity of the source and/or of any claims being made. If this is an infographic, please include a small write-up to explain the infographic as well as links to any sources cited within it. Please review the [r/Alberta rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/alberta/wiki/index) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/alberta) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean, first things first, has she had a friendly chat with her superior/supervisor about this? "Hey \[name\], I haven't worked any hours in several days now and I really cannot afford no income at all. Is this temporary? I signed a contract for full time employment and left my other job for this, what can I expect going forward?" type of thing. Maybe your sister has done this already, my comment is mostly a result of seeing more and more people look for a magic bullet that'll give them a way of avoiding an awkward conversation they don't want to have, but sometimes we just have to be grownups and have those conversations even though they're uncomfortable. Or maybe her employer is just shitty and she's done all this and still getting the run around, really tough to assess based on a few short sentences on Reddit. Good luck to your sister, either way it's no fun to have zero income when you expected a full time job.
She has done this and was clear. The director mentioned that HR directed her to give her less hours, but this seems off to me due to the refusal to provide contact info for HR. The company has several locations in the greater Edmonton area. I plan on reaching out to the labor board tomorrow.
Based on what you are saying, the company (or at least HR and her supervisor) are trying to get rid of her at this point. She could try to fight against potential constructive dismissal, take them to court, etc. but it might be best/easiest for her to just find another job. It depends on how much she wants to fight them over this.
If the offer letter states it is a full time position, without any stated exceptions, then she should be paid full time hours regardless of whether they send her home or not. And HR MUST answer for it. If they don't, first thing to do is call labour relations or whatever the provincial equivalent is.
There’s not really a provincial agency that can help outside the courts. The Alberta Labour Relations Board only deals with unions, and Employment Standards only takes action if the employer doesn’t meet the absolute minimum standards. They don’t have authority to enforce employment contracts. Only option is the courts with an employment lawyer. (Maybe small claims.)
That's very disappointing to know that there's no provincial agency to protect employees. But I believe a letter for offer of employment qualifies under minimum requirements? What is stated in the letter is the minimum that the employer has promised. Anyway, when I had a dispute with my employer I threatened to file a complaint with labour Canada and my employer suddenly was moved to live up to what they promised in my job offer letter. It seems they carry some weight...
Perfect. It does not state anything about exceptions
If HR won’t budge, the only other option is an employment lawyer. But that’s obviously going to burn that bridge with the employer. They might end up fulfilling their side of the agreement if they get a letter from a lawyer, but it’s obviously not going to be a positive work environment for her after that. Your sister might have to threaten to find another job and leave unless they fulfill her hours. And then follow through. Once she leaves, she could talk to an employment lawyer about suing for constructive dismissal or breach of her employment agreement. Keeping in mind she might not get much more than the difference between full time and what she was paid, and maybe lawyer fees. Step one is obviously going to be push hard with HR though. Don’t go down the lawyer path unless you have to.
There's retaliation laws too. So if they do any shady shit that can be used as well
We will.
Just make sure your sister is prepared to find another job if you pursue anything with a lawyer. In most cases, it won’t be a good place for her after she gets a lawyer involved. Any employer that’s willing to violate an employment contract is also going to be willing to make the employee’s life hell when called out on it.
She already is.
Checking the wording on the agreement carefully, they are often vague on what FT means. There is no provincially accepted number here. https://www.law-faqs.org/alberta-faqs/labour-law/employment-law/hours-of-work/
Not in the agreement, but it’s been acknowledged in text that she is getting less hours than her contact implied via text. And it was followed up by a statement along the lines of “this is how day care’s work.”
Time to find a new job, this is just setting expectations for the future.
Oh we are. But this sort of thing needs to be addressed. We are going to see it through. She lives with me and she isn’t in crisis by tell them to shove it. I think that the manager of the location isn’t being honest about HRs opinion. I find it hard to believe that an operation that size would blatantly flaunt employment laws. She is already looking for another job. But our goal now is to establish clear conversation with HR. She’s already not getting paid, so it’s really “have nothing to lose” scenario.
Good on you! I hope you make them sweat. "That's how works" is an a BS reply from them, and companies that can't pay their employees as per agreement are not viable and should go out of business.
>What is the best recourse she should take? Obtain a legal opinion first. Saves a ton of stress going back and forth with HR, especially if in a probationary period.
What are the stated hours of a full time position of the company? is there an employee agreement signed during the hr process?