The government has committed to consult with Yukoners on whether the probationary period for employment should be changed.
Currently, an employee can be fired without cause or notice at any point during the first six months of their job.
The NDP Opposition proposed a motion to see if Yukon supports changing that period to three months. It called for immediate action, and for the legislative amendment to pass this year.
“We feel it is important because the Yukon is woefully behind the rest of the country,” said NDP MLA Jan Stick on Wednesday. “We’ve looked across the country to see what other jurisdictions are doing, and we are at the bottom. Some are as little as 30 days; most are three months’ probationary period.”
Only Yukon, New Brunswick and P.E.I. have a probationary period of six months. In Manitoba, it is 30 days.
The Yukon Party agreed to the substance of the motion but not the timelines.
“While I support undertaking consultation on the sections of the act relating to the probationary period, I cannot commit to doing so immediately, nor to tabling changes to the legislation during the fall sitting of the Legislative Assembly,” said Patti McLeod, MLA for Watson Lake.
She proposed amending the motion by removing the time references.
The NDP agreed to allow the government to proceed at its own pace, and the amended motion passed unanimously.