u/PeteRock24

Restaurants have been notorious for “bending” the law when it comes to its employees, generally servers or bartenders, because they are often younger and unaware of their rights as an employee. The restaurant I work at, and others, will schedule “on-call” shifts for people that call in sick or if it’s busier than expected most of the time with less than four hours notice. I decided to look more into this but I am left more confused than before.

Three questions I have from trying to decipher the legalese in Bill 148:

Question 1: If I am not required for the “on-call” shift am I entitled to three hours of pay?

“MINIMUM PAY FOR BEING ON CALL

21.4 (1)  If an employee who is on call to work is not required to work or is required to work but works less than three hours, despite being available to work longer, the employer shall pay the employee wages for three hours…”

“(2)  Subsection (1) does not apply if…   (b)  the employee who was on call was not required to work.”

The exception listed seems to completely contradict subsection (1) and is confusing.

Question 2: If you are notified with less than 96 hours before the shift starts can you refuse it?

“RIGHT TO REFUSE

21.5  (1)  An employee has the right to refuse an employer's request or demand to work or be on call on a day that they were not scheduled to work or be on call if the request or demand is made less than 96 hours before the time he or she would commence work or commence being on call, as applicable.”

The way I’m reading it is that you need to have more than 96 hours for the employer to ADD the on call shift to a schedule but I can also see where someone would interpret it as more than 96 hours to be informed you are needed for work.

Question 3: The employer will not actually “cancel” an on call shift they will just “let you know if you are needed” and will only communicate that you are needed through the scheduling app.

What are the minimum legal requirements for the employer to notify you that you are needed to work?