Dynamic Air Shelters and Marine Atlantic were named the 2013 NLEC Employers of Distinction on Friday, February 14th. Kay Riggs, Vice-President accepted on behalf of Dynamic Air Shelters, who won the award in the small employer category. Paul Griffen, President & CEO accepted on behalf of Marine Atlantic. The Employer of Distinction Awards honour top  [...]

Seeking protection for employers from drastic minimum wage increases The  Labour Relations Agency released the advisory committee’s review on minimum wage yesterday. The three-member advisory committee was appointed this summer and solicited public and stakeholder submissions on the minimum wage. The report outlined two recommendations for the Provincial Government to consider: That the minimum wage  [...]

This government has raised the minimum wage in this province 67 per cent since 2005, a move that significantly increased payroll costs for employers. The NLEC is asking government for increased protection at law for employers from minimum wage increases of such magnitude and in such short time frames. The NLEC submission to the minimum wage review committee  [...]

The NL Employers’ Council (NLEC) has asked the provincial government to repeal the proclamation of the provision to remove secret ballot votes for union certification from the Labour Relations Act. This change in our province’s labour legislation as proposed in Bill 37, An Act to Amend the Labour Relations Act, introduced in the House of  [...]

Human Resource Minister Diane Finley outlined details of changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) system in a press conference yesterday. The NLEC has led a strong lobby for changes to the EI system over the last few years, and is pleased to see government taking steps in the right direction with these reforms. The changes, designed  [...]

Fails to make tough decisions in two key areas The 2012 Provincial Budget, released Tuesday, delivered on two of the NLEC’s pre-budget requests by reducing government spending to sustainable levels and reviewing government departments for cost savings. The budget failed, however, to make two tough but necessary decisions for our province — how to address our massive  [...]

The issue of anti-replacement worker legislation has been making headlines again, with the recent use of replacement workers by Ocean Choice International (OCI). NLEC Executive Director, Richard Alexander has been in the news defending employers right to use replacement workers and the importance of maintaining this ability in our labour legislation. Anti-replacement worker legislation would  [...]

NLEC calling for legislative change in the system to reduce Employer Insurance Premiums The Provincial Government has announced the start of the Workplace Health, Safety & Compensation Commission (WHSCC) statutory review. A committee representing key stakeholders has been appointed to oversee the statutory review process, including NLEC member Claude Horlick, and labour representative Dave Burry. Ralph  [...]

NLEC Executive Director Richard Alexander addressed Minister of Finance Tom Marshall Friday as part of government’s pre-budget consultations. Alexander urged government to develop an aggressive and proactive plan for debt reduction that should include evaluation and reform of the current public sector pension plan. In his opening presentation, Marshall told attendees that unfunded pension liabilities  [...]