The rights and responsibilities of employees and employers are laid out in the Employment Standards Act here in New Brunswick. All types of employment are included, and there is no separation between full-time, part-time, and casual employees, as they are all entitled to the minimum employment rights outlined in the provincial Act. 

Where all types of employees are mentioned in the act, employees who work under federal jurisdiction are covered by the Canada Labour Code. Those who work under this jurisdiction include but are not limited to pipelines, railways, ferries, banks, cable systems, radio and television, extra-provincial shipping and trucking, Federal Crown Corporations and many First Nations activities. 

New Brunswick Minimum Wage 

The province of New Brunswick has a minimum wage rate that all employers must pay to their employees for every hour worked. The current minimum wage is $11.75 per hour. However, as of April 1, 2022 the rate will be $12.75 per hour and as of October 1, 2022 the rate will be $13.75 per hour. 

On top of this general minimum wage rate, there are differing minimum wage rates for:

• Specialized employee categories within government constriction work, including road, bridge, and building construction
• Program staff and counsellors at residential summer camps 

Here are the New Brunswick minimum wage rates for specific types of positions: 

• Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics: $24.5
• Blasters: $17.10
• Boilermakers: $24.91
• Bricklayers: $20.92
• Built-up Roofers and Shinglers: $17.11
• Carpenters: $17.23
• Cement Finishers: $17.30
• Crane Operators – including Operators of rough terrain cranes, cherry pickers, pile driver cranes and dragline mobile cranes: $20.11
• Divers – Stand-by: $17.79
• Divers – Tenders: $14.83
• Divers – Working: $26.69
• Electricians: $20.62
• Elevator Mechanics:$30.17
• Flag Persons: $10.37
• Floor Covering Installers: $18.22
• General Welders (except where welding is trade-related, in which case the wages shall be set as per the trade in which the welding takes place: $19.34
• Glaziers: $14.22
• Grader Operators: $15.75
• Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanics: $16.88
• Heavy Equipment Operators I – including Operators of bulldozers, front-end loaders, rollers, tractor loaders-backhoes: $13.49
• Heavy Equipment Operators II – including Drillers, and Operators of backhoes, Gradalls and shovels: $15.11
• Insulators: $24.76
• Ironworkers: $24.15
• Journeyperson or Lineworkers: $22.01
• Labourers: $12.63
• Line Pole Setters: $15.29
• Lineworkers (Groundworkers): $15.29
• Millwrights: $25.85
• Mortar Workers: $15.78
• Operating Engineers: $18.45
• Painters: $15.69
• Paving Machine and Asphalt Plant Operators – including Operators of asphalt and concrete spreaders, and Gradalls: $15.27
• Plasterers, Drywall Installers and Finishers and Lathers: $20.15
• Plumbers, Pipefitters, Steamfitters: $23.53
• Rod Setters (Reinforcing Steel): $19.92
• Security Guards: $13.92
• Sheet Metal Workers: $19.17
• Sprinkler System Installers: $27.56
• Timberpersons and Cribpersons: $14.92
• Truck Drivers: $13.91

Hours of Work

These are the standard rules of paying employees for their hours worked. 

Overtime 

The current rate is $19.13 per hour. As of October 1, 2022 the rate will be $20.63 per hour.

Minimum hours 

The employer must pay the eligible employee:

• The minimum wage rate for three hours pay, or the minimum overtime rate for those hours worked
• The regular wage rate covering the hours worked by the employee 

It is important to note that if a specific employment situation is covered by a collective agreement, the Employment Standards Act dictating the minimum wage does not apply. 

Employees who work split shifts

When an employee works a split shift, and their total number of hours worked in a day exceeds the three hours, then the employee is entitled to be paid their regular wage rate for those hours worked. In such an instance, the minimum reporting wage will not apply.

Example: If an employee works for 2 hours, and comes back to work the same day and works 4 hours, he does not receive minimum reporting wage. 

New Brunswick Workers Compensation Board

WorkSafeNB keeps New Brunswick's workers and employers safe while on the job. While their priority is preventing workplace injuries and occupational disease, they also provide comprehensive rehabilitation services and fair compensation benefits when accidents occur. 

WorkSafeNP is also the entity in which employers must report their payroll information by February 28th of each year. To do this, employers must complete Form 100, Employer Payroll Report, and include the following information: 

• Actual earnings paid to all of their employees (identifying the yearly maximum per worker) for the previous calendar year
• An estimate of the current year’s earnings expected to be paid to employees
• A list of contractors hired and the gross amount of each contract
• An estimate of the current year’s contractors going to be hired and the gross amount of each of those contracts 

All estimates for payroll must be considered reasonable. WorkSafeNB considered estimates as reasonable when they are within 25% of the actual payroll figures. Employers are able to submit revised payroll estimates during the year should changes in business activities occur. These revisited estimates must be submitted no later than November 30 of the calendar year in which the estimates apply. 

Monthly Assessments on Actual Payroll (MAAP)

The Monthly Assessment on Actual Payroll (MAAP) program offers employers the option of monthly reporting and payments. This online program aims to help employers improve their cash flow and reduce the financial risks of underestimating assessable earnings.

The program works by: 

• Having the employer file an electronic statement of their actual payroll by the 15th of the following month
• WorkSafeNB will return a statement of account to the employer
• The employer will then have three business days to review and verify the information on the statement
• Finally, the assessed amount will be deducted from the bank account the employer specifies

Only employers with accounts in good standing can participate in the MAAP program, which begins at the start of the year or the start of operations for newly registered employers. To learn more about the MAAP program, contact Assessment Services at 1-800 999-9775 (option 4).

Payroll Remittances New Brunswick

Although the Employment Standards Act does not specifically outline the conditions in which an employer can deduct money from an employee’s wages, the Labour and Employment Board does. Employers can contact the Employment Standards Branch before making any deductions on employee’s wages (other than those deductions regulated by law- EI, CPP and court ordered).

Employers who require their employees to report to their place of business within the province of New Brunswick can use the tax table below. 

Retiring allowance 

When it comes to saving for retirement, employers must be aware of the various pension plans and allowances they must cover for their employees. Some pension plans apply to all residents of New Brunswick through the Canadian government, while other benefits are employer paid. 

These employer-sponsored pension plans are the main source of retirement income for many types of employees. New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services (FCNB) is responsible for managing the Pension Benefits Act, the Nursing Homes Pension Plans Act, and their Regulations. Such legislation is responsible for protecting the interests of New Brunswick pension plan members by outlining the minimum standards of the province’s registered pension plans.

Pay Statements

Employers are required to collect social insurance numbers before from individuals before the commencement of employment. Employers must also give each of their employees a pay statement on every payday (the payroll frequency should be at twice a week). It must show the following:

• The dates of the pay periods and the gross wages for that period
• The description and amount of each deduction, with the net pay.

If the employer chooses to provide electronic pay statements to their employees, they then must: 

• Provide confidential access to each employee to allow them to securely access and print out their pay statement 

Finally, all employers are responsible for keeping payroll records for each of their employees. Such records must include the following information for every employee: 

• Their name, date of birth, address, and social insurance number
• The date the employment started 
• The wage rate and gross earning for each pay period
• The total number of hours worked each day and week
• The reason for and amount of each deduction made on gross earnings 
• All vacation dates, vacation pay, and dates of payment 
• Public holiday pay, and the dates of payment 
• Net amount of money paid
• The reason for and dates the employee was on a leave of absence, with applicable documentation or certification relating to the leave 
• If applicable, dates of any dismal or layoff, including the dates of the notice 
• Date of the end of employment 
• Any other relevant information pertaining to the employer/ employee relationship 

Leave of Absence in New Brunswick

Qualifying for paid public holidays

To qualify for paid public holidays, employees must:

• Be employed by employer for at least 90 calendar days during the 12 months prior to the public holiday
• Report to work if they agreed to work on the public holiday, unless there is a reasonable excuse for not doing so 
• Not be employed with an arrangements whereby they can decide when to or not to work 
• Not be employed in certain occupations exempted by this regulation

All employees are entitled to receive one and one-half times their regular wage rate for each hour worked on a paid public holiday, so long as he qualifies.

Termination Notice

If an employee has been with an employer for less than six months, the employer is not required to give the employee any advanced notice of the termination or layoff. If an employee has been with an employer for at least six months but less than five years, the employer needs to give the employee at least two weeks written notice of the termination or layoff. 

Should an employee be employed by a company for five years or more, the employer must provide the employee with at least four weeks written notice of the termination or layoff. The employer can choose to pay the employee their earned wages during the notice period in lieu of a written notice.

When an employer intends to layoff or terminate or layoff more than ten employees - if they represent at least twenty-five per cent of their employees- the employer must first give notice to the Minister of the Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour and the employees affected at least six weeks of the termination or layoff.

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