Dates:    January–March 2014

Part III of the Canada Labour Code establishes and protects the rights of workers in federally regulated enterprises to fair and equitable conditions of employment. A number of amendments came into effect on April 1, 2014 to make compliance easier for employers and to reduce the department’s cost to administer the legislation. This included a new legislated process for the Labour Program to handle complaints related to unpaid wages and other violations of labour standards and a new administrative review process for payment orders and notices of unfounded complaints.

Sheil Communications developed and implemented a communications strategy to explain the key amendments to Part III of the Canada Labour Code and to equip officials with the tools and training materials necessary to do their jobs. For example, to improve clarity and ease of use of key program materials, online complaints forms for applicants were updated, letter templates for officials were refined, and departmental pamphlets for multiple audiences were simplified. We also created internal information and training materials, such as presentations, key messages, handouts, and guidelines to help departmental managers prepare their employees for new procedures that resulted from the amendments.