Canadian Lawyer InHouse

19 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE NOVEMBER 2017 As well, B.C.'s minimum wage will increase effective Sept. 15 to $11.35 per hour from $10.85. It's the first step in a plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021. The wage increases apply to employees in four categories: live-in support worker; live-in camp leader; resident caretaker; farm workers; and liquor servers. Premier John Horgan has also an - nounced the intention to re-establish a hu- man rights commission that was dismantled 15 years ago. Right now, B.C. has a model allowing complaints to be taken right to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. Other provinces such as Ontario and for federal employees, complaints must go through an investigation process with a human rights commission. In Alberta, the NDP government in - troduced Bill 17: Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, which proposes the big- gest changes to Alberta's Employment Standards Code and Labour Relations Code in decades. It will affect all provin- cially regulated employers and most of the amendments are expected to be passed into law on Jan. 1, 2018. "It makes it easier for unions to organize and is a distinct disadvantage to employers being able to argue against the benefits of a union certification. Definitely, the employer community is concerned," says Howcroft. The amendments to the Employment Standards Code include increases to leave entitlements and changes to qualifying pe - riods of unpaid leaves of absence. Employ- ees will be eligible for leaves after 90 days of employment (it used to be 52 weeks). Bill 17 would also create a new admin- istrative penalty system to fine employers who contravene the Employment Standards Act. In addition, it would extend the pe- riod in which the government could bring a prosecution against an employer to two years from one year. 3. PRIVACY: DATA BREACH NOTIFICATIONS On Sept. 1, the federal government re- leased proposed text for regulations to govern mandatory breach reporting and notification under Canada's federal pri- vacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or PIPEDA. Mandatory data breach reporting and notification at the federal level was intro- duced with amendments to the federal private sector privacy law — PIPEDA — enacted by the Digital Privacy Act. Bill S-4 came into force on June 18, 2015, but the new breach reporting and notification provisions will not come into effect until regulations are passed to govern the new requirements. Clients have asked what it all means. From a business standpoint, compliance is top of mind, but how do you translate it into operational efficiency? NAÏM ANTAKI, Gowlings WLG At DW 2 , we pride ourselves on being a reliable Canadian agent that is trusted across the border by many U.S. law firms for their Canadian intellectual property law needs. Rated one of the Top IP Boutique Firms for 2016/2017 by Canadian Lawyer. DWW.ca Intellectual Property & Technology Lawyers Patent & Trademark Agents Green flies across the Canadian border with ease. ntitled-1 1 2017-10-04 2:07 PM

• Cover