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parties to the employment relationship, ournon-union clients generally prefer to havecarefully written employment contracts thatprovide a clear termination provision (whichmeets the minimum statutory requirements),job duties, salary, hours of work, andbenefits. Employers can also use writtenpolicies to govern and manage theworkplace and establish best practices forthe management of employees.Our unionized clients generally focus onstrategic bargaining to ensure a clearcollective agreement is adopted, which, inaddition to setting out employee benefits,establishes the employee responsibilitiesand employer rights, including a strongmanagement rights clause. Subject to theterms of the collective agreement, unionizedemployers can also enact reasonableworkplace policies to assist in managing theday-to-day issues of the workforce.These above issues are canvassed morethoroughly in the pages that follow.However, as the legislation, rules, andprecedents vary from province to province,employers should consult local counsel withrespect to any specific labour oremployment law issues.EMPLOYMENT AND LABOURLEGISLATIONLegislation in each jurisdiction is differentand it is not possible to provide a detaileddescription in this publication. Accordingly,the summary below provides an overview ofthe type of legislation that exists and what itgenerally covers.Employers should keep in mind that therealso exist numerous regulations madepursuant to each statute establishingspecific rights and responsibilities foremployers and employees, and that courts,boards, adjudicators and arbitrators havehad the opportunity to interpret meaning intothe legislation. Specific legal issues willrequire specific advice.Employment StandardsEach jurisdiction has employment standardslegislation. This legislation governs many ofthe basic terms of the employmentrelationship, establishing minimumstandards that employers must meet.Among other matters, this legislationgoverns:Minimum wage;Overtime pay;Hours of work;Vacation entitlements;Paid statutory holidays;Unpaid leaves; andMinimum notice of terminationrequirements.With the exception of entering into acontract that provides a greater benefit tothe employee, employers and employeescannot contract out of employmentstandards legislation and any contract thatpurports to do so may be void to that extent.However, some businesses and types ofemployment are exempt from all or parts ofemployment standards legislation. Also,there may be exemptions for unionizedemployees, although the extent of theexemptions varies between jurisdictions(where the collective agreement wouldapply).Employment and Labour Law 92