A recent meeting of landlords in Sherbrooke generated a lot of interest and discussion when guest speakers from the Commission de la construction du Québec (Eastern Township chapter) pragmatically addressed part of Bill R-20, the Loi sur les relations de travail (labour relations legislation) which protects entrepreneurs and employees in the Québec construction industry.
The meeting was pursued with a lot of interest, most especially the presentations given by Jocelyn Villeneuve, Labour Relations Consultant, Department for Overseeing Collective Agreement Adherence, and Mrs. Chantale Cardin, Chief Executive Officer, Québec Construction Commission, Eastern Township chapter).
Mr. Villeneuve, spoke without a microphone and held the room captive on the application of the law. He actually surprised many landlords about the freedom they don’t have when they must carry out or perform renovations, maintenance, construction, and so on. There are numerous, precise and very specific regulations to be followed to protect the unionized sector of the Québec construction industry. Some are restrictive for rental unit landlords.
Bill ''R-20'' applies throughout all Québec territory and to all employers and employees in the construction industry. The Law says that the nature of the work prevails and not the stature of companies. All participants attending the meeting were then given a detailed explanation of the various terms used in the Law. An error in the interpreting the Law incorrectly can have enormous effects if a landlord decides to perform renovations or repairs in a rental building.
Exclusions
Mr. Villeneuve took the time to explain in detail the exclusions provided for in the Law. Bill R-20 applies specifically to employers and salaried employee in the construction industry, but does not apply to maintenance and repair work carried out by permanent salaried employees and by salaried employees who replace them and who are temporarily and directly hired by an employer other than a professional employer.
The Law does not apply to a « permanent salaried » employee; in other words, any salaried employee who regularly performs building maintenance tasks or civil engineering work, and any salaried employee who has been working for at least six months in an establishment’s production department. The Law applies to any apprentice, labourer, non-specialized worker, qualified worker, companion or clerk, who work for one employer and who are entitled to a salary.
The following work is excluded from the application from the Law if the person doing the work is acting on his account and for his own non financial purposes : maintenance, repair, renovation or changes to a unit in which he/she lives, construction of a garage or a building an extension to his/her unit.
The speaker advised landlords to take the necessary precautions when they decide to work with a contractor by checking the contractor’s permit, and all permits, to find out whether the contractor conforms to regulations. Specifically, the contractor must be registered with the Régie du bâtiment, and clearly display his/her permit number. “The number of letters on a contractor’s truck can often tell you many things about the contractor’s conformity.”
Reactions from landlords
An animated question period with the speaker showed that everyone agreed that the Bill is restrictive. ''If the Régie du logement would just not prevent us from increasing our rents, then we would be able to pay construction industry workers,” said one landlord.
Bill R-20 appeared in Québec at the end of the 1960’s. It seems that only Québec has this universal labour relations legislation.
''They must have taken some good drugs », said one landlord whereas another said that the Law was fantastic and that he felt almost well following replies received from the guest speaker. This is obviously not the time to shoot the messenger, but landlords present did not hold back from saying they did not have much leeway or freedom to perform certain work in their rental units with so much control being placed on the Québec construction industry.
Mrs. Chantale Cardin, Regional Director, Québec Construction Commission (Eastern Township chapter) spoke during the second half of the evening meeting, and mentioned that her staff and office had the responsibility of applying the Law. The Commission’s office has 19 people, 15 of which carry out inspections. ''We see this evening as an information meeting for landlords to make them aware of the Law, » specified Mrs. Cardin.
The CCQ and Bill R-20 have provoked discussions with landlords
