Department of Community Services

General Exemption Regulation

The following questions and answers are for information purposes only. For actual interpretation and application purposes refer to the Employment Standards Act and regulations, or contact an Employment Standards Officer in the Labour Services Office on the 3rd Floor of the Law Centre, 2130-2nd Avenue, Whitehorse, Yukon or call (867) 667-5944 (toll free within the Yukon 1-800-661-0408 extension 5944).

 

  1. What is the General Exemption Regulation?
  2. Why are certain employees singled out?
  3. Who is exempted by this regulation?
  4. What is the difference between a sitter and a domestic?
  5. Are the employees of placer miners exempt from overtime?
  1. What is the General Exemption Regulation?

    This regulation exempts an employee or a class of employees from some provisions of the Act.

  2. Why are certain employees singled out?

    The regulation deals mainly with the hours of work provisions. The employees exempted tend to be those whose hours of work vary from day to day and who normally work alone.

  3. Who is exempted by this regulation?

    Sitters and persons working on a EI "top-up" program are exempted from the entire Act.

    Guides, outfitters, farm workers, domestics, watchmen or security guards (unless working for a security firm)  are exempted from Part 2, Hours of Work and Overtime.

    Persons employeed in staking, line cutting, geological mapping, geological sampling or testing, geophysical surveying or manual stripping activities in the course of exploration for minerals, are also exempted from Part 2, Hours of Work and Overtime.

  4. What is the difference between a sitter and a domestic?

    Sitters are persons employed in a private residence solely to care for a child or a disabled, infirm or other person. Nurses, therapists, domestics, homemakers, day care workers or employees of a business providing that service are not sitters.

    Domestics are persons employed to provide cooking, cleaning, gardening, maintenance, chauffeuring, sitting, nursing, tutoring or other services.

  5. Are the employees of placer miners exempt from overtime?

    Employees of placer miners are not exempt. The employer must comply with the hours of work requirements set out in Part 2.