On February 24, 2022, the National Assembly of Québec adopted and assented to Bill 14, An Act to ensure the protection of trainees in the workplace (the Act), which aims to provide better protection to trainees who carry out training in the workplace as part of their program of studies, by granting them certain rights and protections with respect to short-term leaves as well as with regard to psychological or sexual harassment. 

This new Act, which will come into force on August 24, 2022, will apply to any person, whether an employee or not, who performs a “training” in Québec or outside Québec for a Québec employer, provided that the trainee’s residence or domicile is in the province. The Act defines “training” as:

“[A]ny job shadowing activity or activity for the acquisition or implementation of skills that is required to obtain a permit to practise issued by a professional order or that is part of a program of studies or training program at the secondary, vocational, college or university level offered by an educational institution and leading to a diploma, certificate or attestation of studies.”

Effective August 24, 2022, trainees will now have: 

• The right to be absent for short periods of time, i.e. on the following days/for the following reasons:
  • certain statutory general holidays;
  • Québec National Holiday¹;
  • in the event of sickness, to fulfill parental or family obligations or to take care of a relative²;
  • on the occasion of deaths or funerals in their family;
  • on the day of their wedding or civil union;
  • at the birth of their child, the adoption of a child or where there is a termination of pregnancy³; and
  • for a medical examination related to a pregnancy. 
• The right to a training environment free from psychological or sexual harassment;
• Protection from retaliation for exercising any of the rights conferred by the Act;
• The right to file a complaint for psychological harassment or a prohibited practice with the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (the CNESST) and have it heard by the Administrative Labour Tribunal (the ALT).

As a result, employers will have the ancillary obligations to ensure that a harassment-free training environment is provided and to take reasonable measures to prevent harassment and to put a stop to it. Similarly, employers will be prohibited from ending a training, dismissing, suspending or transferring a trainee, practising discrimination or taking a reprisal against a trainee, or imposing any other sanction on a trainee because of the exercise of a right under the Act.

Employers must also inform trainees of the rights provided for in the Act and must ensure that a trainee’s exercise of a right resulting from the Act does not jeopardize the successful completion of his or her studies, his or her training or the obtention of a permit to practise a profession.

It will be the responsibility of the CNESST to take all measures to ensure compliance with the Act. In addition, employers will be liable to a fine of $600 to $1,200 (for a first offence) for violations of the Act, in addition to any amounts that they may be ordered to pay directly to trainees by the ALT.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that the Act provides that directors and officers will be presumed liable in the event of an offence committed by a legal person, a representative, an agent or an employee thereof, hence the importance for directors and officers to exercise due diligence and take all necessary precautions to prevent offenses.

The enactment of the Act confirms the legislator’s intention to protect trainees who are completing training as part of a school program. To this end, it is important to remember that people who complete a training in a company outside of this framework are generally considered to be "employees" within the meaning of the Act respecting labour standards and therefore benefit from all protections offered by that law and its regulations, including the right to be paid the minimum wage for all hours worked.

In addition, it is interesting to note that the adoption of this new Act comes only a few months after the legislator extended the application of the Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases and the Act respecting occupational health and safety for trainees doing an observation or unpaid work training.

If you would like to discuss the impact this Act may have on your business or if you have any questions regarding your rights and obligations, please contact Sarah-Émilie Dubois, Charles-Antoine Lessard-Tremblay or any other member of the Employment and Labour group from the Montréal office.

1. The trainee may be absent on June 25 when the National Holiday falls on a Sunday and that day is not a training day for the trainee. In addition, the trainee is entitled to a compensatory holiday of one (1) day on the working day preceding or following the National Holiday, where their work is not interrupted on that day and the trainee is required to participate in his or her training. The same mechanism applies when the National Holiday falls on a day that is not normally a training day. ↩
2. Up to ten (10) days per year. ↩
3. In these cases, the trainee is entitled to five (5) days.↩