Saskatchewan’s Lieutenant Governor has approved an Order in Council setting January 1, 2026, as the date in which Bill No. 5 will come into force. This Bill contains a number of notable amendments to The Saskatchewan Employment Act (SEA) that will take effect at the start of the new year.
At a high level, some of the notable changes to the SEA include:
- Restrictions on when medical certificates can be requested for employees who are absent from work due to illness or injury (either their own or that of an immediate family member)
- Prohibitions on withholding or deducting gratuities or “tips” from employees and regulatory authority to establish conditions that must be met for a tip pooling arrangement
- Expanded protected long-term sick leave and interpersonal violence leave, and more flexibility for bereavement leave and access to maternity leave
- Providing employers the option of defining a “day” as an individual calendar day or to continue using the existing 24-hour period definition for overtime purposes
- New categories of permissible deductions from wages
- Expanded authority of the Director of Employment Standards to issue remedies in discriminatory action complaints
- Clarification that employers do not have to provide vacation pay on the period for which statutory pay-in-lieu of termination notice is being provided
For a more detailed list of the upcoming changes, please see our previously updated article that laid out these changes in detail.
Our Labour and Employment Group is available to help Saskatchewan workplaces understand what these changes to the SEA mean for organizations, including reviewing existing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with these upcoming amendments before they come into force at the start of next year.
Note: This article is of a general nature only and is not exhaustive of all possible legal rights or remedies. In addition, laws may change over time and should be interpreted only in the context of particular circumstances such that these materials are not intended to be relied upon or taken as legal advice or opinion. Readers should consult a legal professional for specific advice in any particular situation.
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