Though they vary by job title, the exemptions, which came into effect on September 1, include not needing to provide 96 hours’ written notice of work schedules, 24 hours’ written notice of shift change, eight-hour rest period between work periods or shifts and a 30-minute break for every five consecutive hours of work. (The Logic)

Talking point: Last week, my colleague Catherine broke the news that certain companies would get exemptions until after the federal election, at which point consultations would be held. At the time, the government said only “select employers” would get them. The full list of exemptions applies to companies in some of Canada’s largest industries. Firms in the courier; telecommunications; grain-elevation; and air-, rail- and road-transportation industries all lobbied for exemptions to the code, and received them. The banking industry asked for concessions on other parts of the new Labour Code, but not to be exempt from the overtime and scheduling provisions. Not all companies got all concessions they asked for, however. UPS and Purolator both asked for the right to be able to force employees to work overtime. That request was not granted. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents many of the 900,000 workers governed by the new law, is calling for the federal government to cancel the exemptions. That’s not the only issue on which the union is in conflict with the federal government. On Saturday, PSAC announced it had resumed bargaining on a compensation package for federal public service workers affected by the many problems with the Phoenix pay system.