Children can continue to help on their family’s farm, even as the province moves to bar youth under the age of 16 from dangerous occupations. “We are moving the minimum age from 12 years to 16 years,” BC labour minister Harry Bains said April 29, announcing a host of amendments to the Employment Standards Act. …
labour
Piece rates won’t change – yet
BC’s long-standing piece rate system won’t be overhauled by June 1, as recommended last year by the Fair Wages Commission. BC labour minister Harry Bains endorsed the commission’s recommendation last year that all harvesters be paid minimum wage by June 1, 2019. However, he also said too little was known about the existing system, created …
Piece rates, taxes increase
Just weeks into the new year, BC farmers may be starting to feel the pinch. One thing’s for certain: their pennies won’t. Various government policies designed to part farmers and their money have kicked in, raising the cost of doing business in BC. Piece rates increased on January 1, six months after an increase to …
Farm employers on edge
ABBOTSFORD – Another round of changes to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program has farm employers on edge after the hassles of obtaining workers for the 2018 season. Come 2019, workers from Mexico will have to provide biometric identification prior to arrival while employers face new housing standards against a backdrop of an ongoing review of …
Minimum wage hike squeezes farm margins
DELTA – Growers are taking a closer look at pay structures as minimum wage hikes take effect this month. As promised during last spring’s election campaign, the BC NDP plan to raise the minimum wage to $15.20 an hour over the next four years. The first of four minimum wage increases took effect June 1, …
Labour trouble
LANGLEY – A packed house gathered for the spring meeting of the BC Landscape and Nursery Association at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley on March 12, keen to get answers to questions about the state of the labour force. The association is engaged in an extensive study of labour requirements for the sector, but the …