We have received the following updates:

Provincial Court

Further to our broadcast of June 12, 2020, the Provincial Court has advised that it will be resuming restricted operations beginning on June 29, 2020. Members are encouraged to carefully review the new operational plan previously circulated and to follow up with specific centres prior to attending Court as there may be variances specific to particular buildings.

Please note that the Court is continuing to encourage virtual appearances upon application via either videoconference (using the number which has been in effect throughout the pandemic) or via teleconference (with reversion to the use of Court Call).

For in person court appearances, members will be required to wear masks and must bring their own with them. Hand sanitizers and disinfection of workspaces between appearances will be provided by the court.

Any questions should be directed as indicated in the operational plan which can also be found via this link:

https://court.nl.ca/provincial/Revised-COVID-19_Operational_Plan-Issued_June12-Provincial-Court.pdf

Labour Standards Act

We have been advised by the Director of the Labour Relations Division that on June 12, 2020 the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced temporary extensions of time periods contained in the Labour Standards Act. The time period by which a temporary layoff becomes a termination has been extended from 13 weeks in a 20 week consecutive period to 26 weeks in a 33 week consecutive period and the time period to file a complaint with the Director of Labour Standards has been extended from 6 months to 12 months. Both extensions are retroactive to March 18, 2020 and will end on September 18, 2020.

The media release relating to these extensions can be found at https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2020/aesl/0612n04/