Calgary Stampede weighs whether to cut youth pay under new minimum wage law

The Calgary Stampede is one of the biggest seasonal employers for youth in the province — and Alberta's new minimum wage changes give both the Stampede and its new hires only a few weeks to sort out what teens' paycheques will look like. 

"Because this just happened yesterday, we're at a point now where we have to take a look at everything," said Jennifer Booth, manager of public relations for the Calgary Stampede.

Bill 2, also called the Open for Business Act, set a new $13-an-hour minimum wage for youth when it was introduced Monday, down from $15 an hour. The new youth minimum wage takes effect on June 26.

The Stampede hires about 3,500 people every July, about 500 of whom are under 18. So far, Booth says, about 50 per cent of its positions have been filled.

It runs July 5 to 14, and now just weeks out, the Stampede has to determine how much it will be paying those youth workers —  those who have already signed contracts and those who have yet to be hired.

I wonder if this could be shortsighted because the next election, these youth will be voting.- Leanne Shirtliffe, mom of 15-year-old Vivian Hughes

Leanne Shirtliffe says her daughter Vivian Hughes qualified for an interview at the Stampede's hiring fair, and she had already started to budget the money she expected to earn when she heard the news that she might earn less than expected. 

"She's quite disappointed," Shirtliffe said. "She's starting a strong academic program in high school … she doesn't want to work when that happens so she was really hoping to save."

The lower wage will also apply to students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less while school is in session. It will also apply for all hours worked during summer holidays, Christmas and other school breaks.

Changing wage could breach contract: lawyer

Labour relations lawyer Will Cascadden says what the Stampede can do depends on the type of contract youth workers signed before the law changed.

"If they've already hired people and they've said we're going to pay you X, and then they say, 'well, we've changed our mind, we're going to pay you less than X,' that could be a breach of contract," he said. 

"For them to change that, they'd have to address it from a contract law perspective … it probably wouldn't be very smooth because they'd have to change the deal, but there's ways they could probably do it."

Cascadden says the teens could fight an imposed lower wage in court, but it might not be practical for a loss of $2 per hour during the 10-day event.

He says he sees the problem being more about public relations than employment law.

"You're going to … unilaterally reduce all their wages a month before they're supposed to start working — it may not be a very popular decision," he said.

Booth says the Stampede jobs that youth are hired for are mostly entry level, ranging from greeting attendees, to ushering, to serving food.

"We're really proud to be a lot of youths' first job in the community," she said. "Our team is really just evaluating what this means."

Bill 2 also changes the Employment Standards Code so that employees must work 30 days before being entitled to holiday pay.

Also, workers will receive holiday pay only for days they would normally be scheduled to work — for example, a restaurant that is normally closed on Mondays wouldn't have to give its staff holiday pay for Thanksgiving.

Richard Truscott, a vice-president with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), says the changes could be a positive thing.

"Our members, who are the small business owners across the province, generally support that. They believe that more flexibility on wage rates for employers is a good thing," he said.

"And it's going to allow more young people to get their foot in the door and get those entry-level jobs because they're less expensive for employers to create in the first place."

But Shirtliffe says, as the mom of a teen, she feels conflicted over the changes.

"The question is if teens will think they're not as valuable as workers. However, that said, if it encourages more people to hire teens, that could be a good thing," she said.

"I wonder if this could be shortsighted because the next election, these youth will be voting."