Expenditure Restraint Act (S.C. 2009, c. 2, s. 393)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Expenditure Restraint Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

additional remuneration

additional remuneration means any allowance, bonus, differential or premium or any payment to employees that is similar to any of those payments. (rémunération additionnelle)

arbitral award

arbitral award means an arbitral award governing employees to whom this Act applies. (décision arbitrale)

bargaining agent

bargaining agent has the same meaning

• (a) as in subsection 3(1) of the Canada Labour Code, in relation to employees to whom Part I of that Act applies;

• (b) as in section 3 of the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act, in relation to employees to whom that Act applies; and

• (c) as in subsection 2(1) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, in relation to employees to whom that Act applies. (agent négociateur)

collective agreement

collective agreement means a collective agreement governing employees to whom this Act applies. (convention collective)

Her Majesty

Her Majesty means Her Majesty in right of Canada. (Sa Majesté)

National Joint Council

National Joint Council has the same meaning as in subsection 4(1) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act. (Conseil national mixte)

rate of pay

rate of pay means a base rate of pay, whether expressed as a single rate of pay or a range of rates of pay — or, if no such rate or range exists, any fixed or ascertainable amount of base pay — but does not include any additional remuneration. (taux de salaire)

restraint period

restraint period means the period that begins on April 1, 2006 and ends on March 31, 2011. (période de contrôle)

Marginal note:Deemed bonus

3 For the purpose of this Act, any lump sum that an employer is required by an arbitral award to pay to employees is deemed to be a bonus.

Marginal note:National Joint Council recommendations

4 Any reference in this Act to additional remuneration does not include any additional remuneration that is provided for by a directive, policy, regulation, agreement or other instrument issued or made

• (a) on the recommendation of the National Joint Council and with the employer’s approval; or

• (b) unilaterally by an employer in respect of a subject matter that, in the opinion of the Treasury Board, is the same as or is related to the subject matter of any instrument made in accordance with paragraph (a).

Marginal note:When certain collective agreements are deemed to have been entered into

• 5 (1) For the purpose of this Act, a collective agreement is deemed to have been entered into before December 8, 2008 if it was actually entered into on or after that date but its parties had, before that date, agreed in writing to enter into it with effect on the expiry of a previous collective agreement and they entered into it without alteration.

• Marginal note:When provisions of certain terms and conditions of employment are deemed to have been established

  (2) If subsection (1) applies in respect of a collective agreement and terms and conditions of employment were established on or after December 8, 2008, the provisions of those terms and conditions of employment that are identical in all material respects to those of the collective agreement and that are applicable to non-represented and excluded employees that normally have terms and conditions of employment that are similar to those of the employees governed by the collective agreement are, for the purposes of this Act, deemed to have been made before December 8, 2008.

Effects of Act

Marginal note:Right to bargain collectively

6 Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the right to bargain collectively under the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act is continued.

Marginal note:Right to strike

7 Nothing in this Act affects the right to strike under the Canada Labour Code or the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

Marginal note:Amendments permitted

8 Nothing in this Act precludes the bargaining agent for employees governed by a collective agreement or arbitral award and the employer of those employees from amending, by agreement in writing, any provision of the collective agreement or arbitral award, other than a provision relating to its term, so long as the amendment is not contrary to any provision of this Act.

Marginal note:Workplace improvements

9 Nothing in this Act precludes the co-development of workplace improvements by bargaining agents and employers under the auspices of the National Joint Council or any other body that they may agree on.

Marginal note:Incremental and merit increases

10 Nothing in this Act is to be construed as precluding the entitlement of any employee to incremental increases — including any based on the attainment of further qualifications or the acquisition of further skills — or to merit or performance increases, in-range increases, performance bonuses or similar forms of compensation.

Marginal note:Conflicts with other Acts

11 In the event of a conflict between a provision of this Act and a provision of any other Act of Parliament, including a provision in Part X of the Financial Administration Act, the provision of this Act prevails to the extent of the conflict, unless the other Act expressly declares that it or any of its provisions apply despite this Act.

Application

Marginal note:Members of Parliament

12 This Act applies to members of the Senate and the House of Commons.

Marginal note:Employees

• 13 (1) This Act applies to employees who are employed in or by

  • (a) the departments and other portions of the federal public administration named in Schedules I and IV, respectively, to the Financial Administration Act and the separate agencies named in Schedule V to that Act, other than the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada and the Staff of the Non-Public Funds, Canadian Forces;

  • (b) the Crown corporations and public bodies named in Schedule 1; and

  • (c) the Senate, the House of Commons, the Library of Parliament, the office of the Senate Ethics Officer, the office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, the Parliamentary Protective Service and the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

• Marginal note:Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

  (2) For greater certainty, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are employees.

• Marginal note:Deemed employees

  (3) This Act applies to the following persons, who are deemed to be employees for the purposes of this Act:

  • (a) the staff of members of the Senate and the House of Commons;

  • (b) directors of the Crown corporations and public bodies named in Schedule 1;

  • (c) officers and non-commissioned members of the Canadian Forces; and

  • (d) the Chief Electoral Officer.

• Marginal note:Persons appointed by Governor in Council

  (4) This Act applies to persons who are appointed by the Governor in Council, and those persons are deemed to be employees for the purposes of this Act. Despite this subsection, this Act does not apply to lieutenant governors, judges who are paid a salary under the Judges Act, military judges appointed under section 165.21 of the National Defence Act and associate judges appointed under section 12 of the Federal Courts Act.

Marginal note:Persons designated by Governor in Council

14 The Governor in Council may, by order, designate any person or class of persons as persons to whom this Act applies, and those persons are deemed to be employees for the purposes of this Act.

Marginal note:Locally engaged persons and independent contractors

15 This Act does not apply to a person who is locally engaged outside Canada or, for greater certainty, to a person who is engaged as an independent contractor.

Restraint Measures

Increases to Rates of Pay

Marginal note:Increases to rates of pay

16 Despite any collective agreement, arbitral award or terms and conditions of employment to the contrary, but subject to the other provisions of this Act, the rates of pay for employees are to be increased, or are deemed to have been increased, as the case may be, by the following percentages for any 12-month period that begins during any of the following fiscal years:

• (a) the 2006–2007 fiscal year, 2.5%;

• (b) the 2007–2008 fiscal year, 2.3%;

• (c) the 2008–2009 fiscal year, 1.5%;

• (d) the 2009–2010 fiscal year, 1.5%; and

• (e) the 2010–2011 fiscal year, 1.5%.

Employees Represented by a Bargaining Agent

Marginal note:Increases to rates of pay — collective agreements or arbitral awards after coming into force

• 17 (1) The provisions of any collective agreement that is entered into, or arbitral award that is made, after the day on which this Act comes into force may not provide for increases to rates of pay that are greater than those set out in section 16, but they may provide for increases that are lower.

• Marginal note:12-month periods

  (2) For greater certainty, any collective agreement that is entered into, or any arbitral award that is made, after the day on which this Act comes into force and that provides for increases to rates of pay for any period that begins during the restraint period must do so on the basis of a 12-month period.

Marginal note:Increases to rates of pay — collective agreements and arbitral awards — December 8, 2008 until coming into force

18 The provisions of any collective agreement that is entered into, or any arbitral award that is made, during the period that begins on December 8, 2008 and ends on the day on which this Act comes into force that provide, for any particular period, for increases to rates of pay that are greater than those referred to in section 16 for that particular period are of no effect or are deemed never to have had effect, as the case may be, and are deemed to be provisions that provide for the increases referred to in section 16.

Marginal note:Increases to rates of pay — collective agreements and arbitral awards — before December 8, 2008

19 With respect to a collective agreement that is entered into, or an arbitral award that is made, before December 8, 2008,

• (a) section 16 does not apply in respect of any period that began during the 2006–2007 or 2007–2008 fiscal year; and

• (b) for any 12-month period that begins during any of the 2008–2009, 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 fiscal years, section 16 applies only in respect of periods that begin on or after December 8, 2008 and any provisions of those agreements or awards that provide, for any particular period, for increases to rates of pay that are greater than those referred to in section 16 for that particular period are of no effect or are deemed never to have had effect, as the case may be, and are deemed to be provisions that provide for the increases referred to in section 16.

Marginal note:Other than 12-month periods — section 18

20 If a collective agreement or arbitral award to which section 18 applies provides for an increase to rates of pay for a period of other than 12 months that begins during any particular fiscal year in the restraint period, that increase is of no effect or is deemed never to have had effect, as the case may be, and is deemed to be an increase for that period of other than 12 months, determined on an annualized basis to the nearest 1/100%, that provides for the increase referred to in section 16 for a period that begins during that particular fiscal year.