Canada. Labour Canada. Labour Standards Branch : In August 1964 the Labour Standards Branch was established to administer the new Canada Labour (Standards) Code. At the same time, this new Branch quickly assumed the dual task of administering the fair wages policy on government contracts and preparing recommendations for pay rates of prevailing rate employees in government departments and agencies formerly performed by the Industrial Relations Branch. Once the Canada Labour (Standards) Code finally came into effect on 1 July 1965, both the administration of the Annual Vacations Act and the Female Employees Equal Pay Act were transferred from the Industrial Relations Branch to the Labour Standards Branch.
The Code established hours of work, minimum wages, annual vacations with pay, and holidays with pay, in employment within federal jurisdiction and reflected a broader societal concern with working conditions and hours of work. Through "persuasion, education, inspection, and enforcement endeavours" (Annual Report, 1967, p. 4) this new Branch sought to ensure that employees in industries under federal jurisdiction received their full entitlements. In this connection, it investigated all complaints and carried out a planned inspection program to promote compliance with this legislation.
Internally, the Labour Standards Branch consisted of a headquarters organization, with two Divisions, as well as nine regional offices. Whereas one headquarters Division, Standards, was responsible for the administration of Part III of the Code, the other Division, Federal Contracts, was responsible for the administration of the Fair Wages Policy. The various Branch offices were concerned with investigating complaints, initiating inquiries into employment conditions and wages, and reporting violations to the Branch headquarters. In this capacity, these Branch offices acted as monitoring agents ensuring that the provisions of the Code were carried out.
In 1970, in response to the passage of the Canada Labour (Safety) Code and a widening community interest in the "problems facing women as a result of rapidly changing social conditions" (Labour Canada Annual Report, 1969-1970, p. 20), the Employment Standards Program was created. This broad-based Program was divided into three units: the Labour Standards Branch, the Accident Prevention and Compensation Branch, and the Women's Bureau and assumed all functions traditionally performed by the Labour Standards Branch. In addition, its programs also aimed at effecting changes in attitudes and practices relating to the status of women in order to accelerate their occupational and remunerative integration in the labour force and undertook to administer workmen's compensation legislation. In the course of its activities, the Program launched promotional campaigns on matters relevant to women workers, enforced regulations covering the nineteen major employment safety and health subjects, and promoted education and training in both areas.
In 1974-1975 it quickly became evident that "changing socio-economic conditions in Canada demanded that Labour Canada redefine and strengthen its role in labour affairs", (Labour Canada Annual Report, 1975-1976, p. 1). As a result of these changes, the Employment Relations and Conditions of Work Branches were created under the auspices of the Research and Program Development Branch in 1976, but the Labour Standards Branch remained a functional entity. The Conditions of Work Branch was responsible for administering the Fair Wages and Hours of Work Act and Fair Wage Rates, while its counterpart through legislative deterrents and various programs sought to promote equal employment opportunities. When early in March 1980 these two branches were merged together into the Employment Relations and Conditions of Work Branch, the Labour Standards Branch (which in the latter 1970's appears to have changed its name to the Employment Standards Branch) passed out of existence and its traditional functions were subsumed by the Conditions of Work Division of this new Branch. RG27 General Inventory
