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Work Time Weekly Rest and Sunday Closing Each week workers are entitled to a day off to rest and relax and pursue leisure activities. There are two important kinds of legislation that relate to the weekly day of rest. The first, usually contained in Employment Standards legislation, provides a uniform day of rest from labour and legal limit to the number of hours which someone can work in any given week. The second, the Lord's Day legislation is an older law with a religious purpose (i.e., to protect Sunday as the universal Sabbath) and is less concerned with workers' rights or employers' obligations.
Generally speaking, provincial Employment Standards law provides one full day of rest per week. It is most often on Sunday where possible. These provisions, along with the Lord's Day legislation, still promote Sunday as the uniform day of rest from labour in most sectors. A number of provinces have delegated the question of Sunday closing of retail establishments to municipalities.
In the second case the predominant law is the federal Lord's Day Act, which makes the non-observance of Sunday as a day of rest a criminal offense. The Act remains largely the same since its adoption in 1907, but since the 1980s the question of protecting Sunday as a day of rest has come under pressure. The adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms may make it unlawful and discriminatory to protect Sunday as a universal sabbath. In addition, economic pressures to allow Sunday shopping have pushed governments to liberalize their laws. |
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