The Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) is an independent and impartial tribunal responsible for the day-to-day application and interpretation of Alberta's labour laws. The role of the ALRB is to interpret and apply the legislation governing collective bargaining including:
Effective August 26, 2024, our Edmonton and Calgary offices are open to walk-in clients from 8:15 am – 4:00 pm.
Our operational hours are 8:15 am to 4:30 pm by phone or email.
The Board is recruiting a Labour Relations Officer. Please click on the link for more information: https://jobpostings.alberta.ca/job-invite/61913/
A N N O U N C E M E N T S
Effective January 1, 2024, the Board is adopting neutral citations for all its decisions, including decisions it issues as the Appeal Body under the Employment Standards Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Decisions under the Labour Relations Code, the Public Service Employee Relations Act, and the Police Officers Collective Bargaining Act will be cited in sequential order in the following format: 2024 ALRB 1.
Decisions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act will be cited in sequential order in the following format: 2024 ABOHSAB 1.
Decisions under the Employment Standards Act will be cited in sequential order in the following format: 2024 ABESAB 1.
Alberta Labour Relations Board
Commerce Place
Suite 640, 10155 102 Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 4G8
Electronic Voting
The Board has revised its Voting Rules to allow for electronic voting. Additional information about the Board’s electronic voting processes can be found in the recently revised Information Bulletin #14 (Representation Votes); Information Bulletin #15 (Proposal Votes) and Information Bulletin #16 (Strike and Lockout Votes).
The Board has also revised its form for Proposal Votes: Application for Board Conducted Proposal Vote
Amendments to the Board’s Rules of Procedure
The Board has amended Rules, 2, 4, 22, 23 and 35 of its Rules of Procedure. These amendments address delegation powers (Rule 2); a new mandatory form for reconsideration applications seeking to challenge a Board decision (Rule 4); and updates to the Director of Settlement’s powers (Rule 22), References to Chair or Vice-Chair (Rule 23), and Pre-hearing conferences (Rule 25).
Revised Information Bulletin #6
Applications for Reconsideration, Judicial Review, and Stays
The Board updated Information Bulletin #6 – Applications for Reconsideration, Judicial Review, and Stays to provide commentary on its recent decision in Construction and General Workers’ Union, Local No. 92, Mikisew Maintenance Ltd. / MM Limited Partnership and Mikisew Fleet Maintenance / MFM Limited Partnership, which provides clarification and guidance on the Board’s exercise of its reconsideration powers in applications where a substantial factual or legal error is alleged. The Board has also updated the sections of the bulletin that provide information about judicial review applications.
Parties filing a reconsideration application to challenge a Board decision must now use a mandatory form: Application for Reconsideration
Information Bulletin #18
Duty of Fair Representation
The Board has updated Information Bulletin #18: The Duty of Fair Representation to provide information about recent decisions interpreting section 153(3.1) of the Labour Relations Code, which allows the Board to summarily dismiss duty of fair representation complaints where a complainant has refused a fair and reasonable settlement offer.
New Transitional Bulletin Coming into Force August 1, 2022
#27 Election of Union Dues and Financial Disclosure
The transitional version of this Bulletin contains information and key dates regarding election of union dues and union financial disclosure obligations, and it sets out the Board’s processes for addressing disputes about union dues elections and financial disclosure .
Updated: July 28, 2022
Important Update About Board Conducted Votes
Please be advised that effective July 4, 2022, the Board will be resuming in-person votes for some matters. Please note that the ability to do in person votes is currently restricted by our resources. This means that some votes, particularly those outside of Edmonton or Calgary, may still need to be conducted via mail in ballot. The Board retains the discretion to determine how all votes will be conducted.
The Board is actively working towards using electronic voting as a means to conduct votes. We are hopeful that this option will be available within the next couple of months.
Updated: June 17, 2022
Important Update About Board Hearings -
New Scheduling Presumptions Effective September 1, 2022
Effective September 1, 2022, the Board will conduct some of its hearings in-person, and some of its hearings remotely (“Remote Proceedings”) using the Zoom platform.
The Board has updated Information Bulletin #4: Board Hearings to reflect these changes. Please review this bulletin for more detailed information about Board hearings.
Effective September 1, 2022, the following proceedings will be presumptively scheduled as Remote Proceedings:
All proceedings not identified above will be presumptively scheduled as in-person proceedings.
In some cases, a party may seek to rebut the presumption that a matter proceed remotely or in-person. The process for doing so will be described in the hearing scheduling letter, and may require a Case Management Meeting. A party seeking to rebut a scheduling presumption will need to put forward a clear and compelling rationale for doing so.
Where all parties in a proceeding that is presumptively scheduled as an in-person proceeding would prefer that the matter proceed remotely, they may write to the Director of Settlement to confirm their agreement in this regard and request a Remote Proceeding.
In all cases, the final decision about whether a matter proceeds in-person or remotely rests with the Board.
Procedures for Remote Proceedings
Remote Proceedings, including rules relating to documents and exhibits, are governed by the Board’s Guidelines for Remote Proceedings. Parties and participants are expected to comply with those Guidelines.
Procedures for In-Person Hearings
Please see Information Bulletin #4, which contains more detailed information about in-person hearings.
Hearings that are currently scheduled as Remote Proceedings, or that are scheduled to proceed before September 1, 2022, will continue as Remote Proceedings, unless the Board directs otherwise.
Updated: June 17, 2022
Update re Information Bulletin #11
Bargaining Units in the Construction Industry and Building Trades
The Board has updated Information Bulletin #11: Bargaining Units in the Construction Industry and Building Trades to address the amendments to the Labour Relations Code resulting from Restoring Balance in Alberta's Workplaces Act, 2020.
Updated: February 25, 2022
New OHS Legislation Takes Effect December 1, 2021
Effective December 1, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, SA 2017 c O-2.1 is repealed and the new The Board has updated its Rules of Procedure for OHS Appeals as well as its Forms for OHS Appeals.
Please visit Board’s OHS page for more information.
Section 11 of the Labour Relations Code - Changes
to Rules of Procedure and Information Bulletin #2
The Board has updated its Rules of Procedure that relate to informal hearings under section 11 of the Labour Relations Code. Please see Rules 29-33. These changes have been incorporated into Information #2 – Processing Applications, Complaints and References and Information Bulletin #4: Location and Conduct of Board Hearings.
Guidelines for Email Filing and Email Communications
Effective January 1, 2021, the Board is changing its filing deadline from 4:30 PM to 4:00 PM. This change applies to all methods of filing materials with the Board (i.e. fax, delivery, email).
The Board has recently begun accepting applications, complaints, and references under the Labour Relations Code, and appeals under the Occupational Health and Safety Act via email. As a result of this change, the Board has developed Guidelines for Email Filing and Email Communications, which include naming conventions, and other procedures and best practices for submitting material to the Board via email. The Guidelines will be incorporated into a revised version of Information Bulletin #2 at a later date.
Some of the key components of the Guidelines include:
Effective January 1, 2021, the deadline for filing materials with the Board will change from 4:30 PM to 4:00 PM.
CONFERENCES / MEETINGS / EVENTS OF INTEREST
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Mediation Services: New Grievance Mediation Program
Mediation Services is pleased to introduce a new Grievance Mediation program to assist unions and employers to resolve grievances. Follow this link for further information.