PEI's Employment Standards Are Changing: Here's What Employers Need to Know by June 30

Prince Edward Island is about to see the biggest shake-up to its employment legislation in decades. These are the first major changes the province has seen for years, so most employers will have to overhaul their people management processes and documentation to be in line with the law.

The new Employment Standards Act takes effect on June 30, 2026.I It affects nearly every part of the employment relationship, from how you schedule shifts to the way terminations are conducted. If you operate a business in PEI or have staff in the province, here’s what’s changing and what you need to do before the deadline. 

Leave entitlements are expanding

One of the areas seeing a significant change is leave entitlements.  All these changes will require updates to your policies.

• First, PEI is introducing dedicated medical leave for the first time. Your employees will now be entitled to up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for treatment or recovery from illness or injury. In the past, employees weren’t entitled to any kind of medical leave.

• Second, sick day entitlements are going up from three to four unpaid days per year for eligible employees. In relation to sick days, you can now only request sick notes after five or more consecutive days of absence.

• Third, employees can now take one unpaid day off for a new Citizenship Ceremony Leave after 90 days of employment.

What you need to do: Now’s the time to review employment contracts, handbooks, and leave policies. This can feel like an overwhelming task, but with the right support from BrightHR's document templates and advisory team, you’ll have expert guidance to walk you through what needs updating.  Document templates cover everything from functional abilities forms to leave of absence policies.

The absence management tool lets you log and track all of these leave types accurately, and unlimited document storage means every record is where it needs to be.

Hours of work and scheduling

Another meaningful change covers how you structure employee’s time. The maximum time employees can work in a week will drop from 48 hours to 44 (with a few exceptions in certain industries).

Overtime averaging is now possible—hours can be averaged over two to four weeks—but only where there's a written agreement in place between you and the employee.

Split shifts must now be completed within 12 hours of the start time, while giving employees at least 8 hours of rest between shifts. Plus, you must provide work schedules at least one week in advance.

What you need to do: Make sure your schedules are created in advance and shared with staff on time and make sure you have a written averaging agreement developed in line with the new legislation. That's a lot of moving parts, and the exposure if you get it wrong is real. But with BrightHR’s scheduling tool, you can easily build compliant schedules to ensure you don’t breach the 44-hour limit, the 12-hour split shift window, or the 8-hour rest requirement. And with the clocking in and out app Blip, you’ll have an accurate tracker and record of hours worked at a glance.

Contracts, pay statements, and policies

A number of changes will require updates to your standard employment documentation.

1. Vacation entitlement increases: Employees are now entitled to three weeks of vacation after five years with the same employer. In the past, this entitlement was reserved for employees who had worked with the same employer for eight years.

2. Termination notice: Employees are now entitled to termination notice after 90 days of employment. Before the new legislation, employees were only entitled to notice after six months of employment. This means your probationary period and notice obligations shift significantly.

3. Group layoffs: If you're letting go of 10 or more employees who represent at least 25% of your workforce within a two-month period, you'll need to give at least six weeks' notice.

4. Pay statements: You must now itemize vacation pay and any paid leave amounts.

5. Tip-pooling: In addition to having tip pooling policies, you must now make sure it’s visibly posted in the workplace.

What you must do: Update your employee contracts and policies to reflect these changes and redistribute them to employees as soon as possible. If you’re worried about having to draft everything from scratch, the BrightBase document library contains professionally drafted contract and policy templates updated to reflect these changes. Plus, the HRIS tracks employee tenure so you always know where someone sits relative to the new notice and vacation thresholds.

Why its now more important than ever to follow employment standards.

The stakes are higher now for employers. Two things make this update particularly important to take seriously. For one, the complaint window has doubled from one year to two, meaning employees have more time to file a claim against you. Secondly, inspectors can now directly fine you if you’re found to be breaking the rules, something they didn’t have the power to do before.

The good news is, June 30 is still a few days away. With the right support, you have enough time to update your policies, review your contracts, and get your documentation in order now.

If you’d like to learn more about how BrightHR helps you stay compliant and ahead of the new changes, schedule some time in with one of our experts today!