Interpretation Guidelines Manual British Columbia Employment Standards Act and Regulations

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACT - PART 1 - INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

ESA Section 1 – Definitions – Employment Agency

Contents:

Summary
Text of Legislation
Policy Interpretation
Related Information

Summary

This section contains definitions for terms used throughout the Employment Standards Act and its Regulation.

Text of Legislation

"employment agency" means a person who, for a fee, recruits or offers to recruit employees for employers;

Policy Interpretation

To be considered an “employment agency” a person must be receiving a fee for recruiting or offering to recruit employees for employers.

Prior to operating, an “employment agency”must be licensed by the Employment Standards Branch. For further information on the Act’s requirements for employment agencies, see Part 2, ss. 10, 11, and 12 and licensing requirements in the Employment Standards Regulation.

A person providing information on employers or who provides a forum for the placement of advertisements by persons seeking employment is not an employment agency.

Example

Nancy runs an informal weekly meeting to provide hiring advice for people seeking employment. She often presents job information from her business contacts that are looking for employees. She provides this information as a service without payment from any person.

This woman is not an “employment agency” because she has not been hired by employers to recruit employees.

Related Information

Related sections of the Act or Regulation

ESR