Canada Elections Act - 3 Consecutive Hours to Vote a Must During Alberta Provincial Elections 2023

Karma Global Aims to Find a Radical Approach for A Change in Mind-set, Methods and Employment Laws Beneficial to The Technological World of Today! Karma Management has now become Karma Global which was incorporated in the year 2004, having now completed almost 19 years of its existence. As late as April 2021, Karma Management Global Consulting Solutions Pvt Ltd. took a very bold step of venturing into foreign shores in terms of shoving up its business prospects in countries like US, UK, UAE, Canada, South East and South East Asia. It has already made its mark in terms of providing excellent services in the areas of payroll, outsourcing, recruitment and talent acquisition, facility management services and regulatory compliances including immigration, negotiations and employment contracts in these foreign countries as well. The major services provided by Karma Global include Regulatory Audit, Management Consulting, Strategy Consulting, Financial & Tech Advisory, Risk Advisory, and Legal. Towards the end of April and the first fortnight of May 2023, Pratik Vaidya, MD & CVO of Karma Global was in the U.S. and Canada attending the Select USA Investment Summit 2023 which came to a close, marking the largest Investment Summit in Select USA history, with 4,900 attendees spanning 83 international markets that was well represented. There was lot of interactive session at Bay Area Houston where the delegates were briefed about business divisions in Franchise, Business Brokerage, Consulting, Education, Technology and Business Immigration and assistance was also offered to the delegates in buying or selling businesses with more than 400 franchise opportunities. This delegation in association with the Consulate General of India, US Commercial Service of Dallas, IACC of Greater Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership and Economic Development Offices is another step in IACC's development of relations with the United States of America.

Canada Elections Act - 3 Consecutive Hours to Vote a Must During Alberta Provincial Elections 2023

Which state is Alberta in Canada? Alberta is a province in Western Canada. It is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia on the West, Saskatchewan on the East, the US state of Montana on the South and the North West Territories to the North. What is the public service Act in Alberta? The Public Service Employee Relations Act outlines the rights and responsibilities of employers, trade unions and employees in labour relations affecting the Alberta public sector employees. What is the role of Alberta Public Service? Alberta Public Service Human Resource leave directives set out the general entitlements, benefits, and authority that apply in the administration of human resources in government organizations under the Public Service Act. Unless otherwise specified, these leave directives apply to bargaining unit, opted out and excluded, and management Alberta Public Service employees. If a leave directive addresses a topic that is also covered by the Collective Agreement, bargaining employees will be governed by the Collective Agreement. unit

Types of leave directive – There are many types but we look only for voting types of leave.

Voting in Federal, Provincial or Municipal Elections The Canada Elections Act, Alberta Election Act and Alberta Local Authorities Election Act stipulate an employee, who qualifies as an elector, will be allowed three consecutive hours during the period polls are open, to vote in federal, provincial or municipal elections. Employees who work the normal daily hours of 8:15 am to 4:30 pm on Election Day do not require time off when the polls close at 7:30 pm or later. For employees who work shifts, work irregular hours or vote at an advance poll, departments should ensure the employee's work schedule allows for the required three consecutive hours. Employees will not be deducted salary for time off to vote. Time off for Voting The Election Act requires employers to provide employees with time off to vote, as follows: Electors should have three consecutive, non-work hours to vote during one of the days of advance voting or on Election Day. If an elector’s work schedule does not provide for the three consecutive hours, the employer must provide extra time off. The employer retains the right as to when to give the employee time off, whether on any of the days of advance voting or on Election Day. When the extra hours are provided by the employer, the time given must be paid, and no penalty should be imposed on the employee for taking time off. The extra time off is for voting only. Electors may also vote by Special Ballot. NOTE: Electors that have already voted are not eligible for extra time off on an advance voting day or on Election Day. Examples - An elector works all 5 days of advance voting and must work between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm on Election Day. As the employee has three consecutive hours between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm to vote, the employer does not need to provide extra time off for voting. An elector works all 5 days of advance voting and on Election Day between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. The employee does not have three consecutive non-work hours for voting on any voting day. The employer could provide either two hours off in the morning (9:00 am to noon) or one hour in the evening (5:00 pm to 8:00 pm)) on any of the voting days. In this example, the employer retains the right as to when to give the employee time off. NOTE: The employer may determine what impacts their operation the least. The Election Act (the "Act") in Alberta provides all eligible voters an entitlement to three consecutive hours to cast their vote on any of the days of voting. The Act defines an "eligible voter" an individual who is, on Election Day:

A Canadian citizen;
18 years of age or older; and
Ordinarily resident of Alberta.

Pay Deductions and Prohibitions The Act prohibits employers from deducting pay or imposing any other penalties on an employee who is exercising their right to take three consecutive hours off to vote. Employers who make pay deductions or who impose penalties in response to an employee taking time off to vote commit a general offence under the Act. Similarly, an employer may be found to have committed a "corrupt practice" under the Act if they directly or indirectly:

Refuse to allow an employee to take time off to vote; or
Interfere with the allowance of an employee to take time off to vote through intimidation, undue influence, or any other act that interferes in such a manner.

Penalties An employer who does not comply with the obligations set out in the Act, may be fined or face imprisonment as follows:

Corrupt Practices: Parties found guilty of a corrupt practice may be fined up to $50,000 or may be subject to imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both.
General Offences: Parties who contravene the Act are guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both.

Benefits of the 2021 Amendments to the Act for Employers The 2021 Amendments to the Act opened up the "three consecutive hours" obligation to include the Advanced Voting Period. Employers now have greater latitude to determine which days they will allow their employees to take time off to vote, if they are even required to grant their employees this time off. So long as an employee's schedule allows for them to have three consecutive hours during either the Advanced Voting Period or on Election Day, employers have no obligations to provide three hours of paid time off to vote.

Conclusion - Labour Relations in Alberta - Alberta’s Labour Relations Board:

The Labour Relations Board (“the Board”) administers the Labour Relations Code (“the Code”), the Public Service Employee Relations Act (“the PSERA”) and the Police Officers Collective Bargaining Act (“the POCBA”). This legislation applies to most unionized employees in the province, but excludes employers and employees in farm or ranch labour, domestic work and in industries falling under federal jurisdiction, such as airlines, railways, interprovincial trucking and shipping, and telecommunications. Self-employed workers are not covered by the Code. Some other employees in Alberta have their labour relations governed entirely by a special act, such as the Post-Secondary Learning Act, or partially so, as is the case under the Police Officers Collective Bargaining Act and the School Act. The Code also excludes people who, in the Board’s view, act as managers or who are employed in a confidential capacity in matters related to labour relations. It does not apply to doctors, dentists, architects, engineers, nurse practitioners and lawyers while they are employed in their professional capacities The Code outlines the rights and responsibilities of employers, trade unions and employees in labour relations. In Alberta, the Code guarantees that employees have the right to collective bargaining with employers. The Code creates ways for employees to choose trade union representation. The Code describes how a trade union bargains with an employer over terms and conditions of employment to arrive at a collective agreement. Rules are set out that govern the labour relations activities of trade unions, employers and employees.

Role of Karma Global in the U.S. and Canada

Karma Global with Pratik Vaidya as its founder, has entered the global scenario both as a leader and a moderator with a record level participation from 4900 attendees from 83 international markets and 55 States and Territories. In person Networking and informative programs on key industry topics gave insightful details affecting FDI community and also helped to connect with industry experts and economic development organizations so as to seize every opportunity available for expansion of business and getting to know many global companies with similar interest. Karma Global took every opportunity to connect with the U.S. Department of Commerce, which promotes and facilitates business investment into the United States by coordinating related federal government agencies to serve as a single point of contact for investors. Select USA assists U.S. economic development organizations to compete globally for investment by providing information, a platform for international marketing, and high-level advocacy. Select USA also helps investors find the information they need to make decisions; connect to the right people at the local level; navigate the federal regulatory system; and find solutions to issues related to the federal government. Karma Global has its offices in Newark, Delaware, USA and in Canada at Toronto, Ontario where it has been offering business expertise and business drivers with solutions, experience and knowledge.

Proprietary blog of Karma Global Tech Management LLC

This blog has been collated and compiled by the internal staff of Karma Global with the knowledge and expertise that they possess, besides adaptation, illustration, derivation, transformation, collection and auto generation for its monthly newsletter Issue 13 of July 2023 and in case of specific or general information or compliance updates for that matter, kindly reach out to the Marketing Team – Kush@karmamgmt.com / yashika@karmamgmt.com

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