Most workplaces follow the employment standards of their province or territory. Certain federally regulated industries—such as banks, airlines and interprovincial transportation—follow federal labour standards.
Keep your own records
Save the written offer, employment agreement, job description, schedules, pay statements and records of hours worked. Note changes to duties, pay or location. Keep these records somewhere the employer cannot remove.
Confirm the basics
Know your rate of pay, regular payday, expected hours, overtime rules, vacation and who to contact about safety. Minimum standards cannot usually be signed away simply because a contract says something different.
Your immigration status does not erase workplace rights
Temporary foreign workers have the right to a workplace free from abuse. An employer cannot take your passport or work permit, force unsafe work, or make you repay recruitment fees that the employer is responsible for under the program.
Immigration rules may affect whether you can change employers immediately. Get immigration advice from an authorized source, but do not let a threat about status stop you from asking a labour or safety authority what protections apply.
If something goes wrong
Write down what happened, when, where and who was present. Preserve messages and pay records. Contact the employment standards or occupational health and safety office for your jurisdiction. A union representative can help if your workplace is unionized.
Different complaints have different deadlines. Asking a coworker or settlement worker for help does not necessarily start a formal claim.
Watch for misclassification
Being called an “independent contractor” does not always make you one. The real working relationship matters. If the business controls your schedule, tools, duties and opportunity for profit or loss, ask the appropriate labour or tax authority how the relationship should be treated.