FREDERICTON (GNB) – New Brunswick high school students are invited to take part in the provincial It's Your Job – Know Your Rights video contest stressing the importance of workplace safety and employee rights.  

"Raising awareness among young New Brunswickers about workplace safety and employee rights is key to ensuring we offer healthy and productive workplaces for all," said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Danny Soucy. "We encourage high school students to participate in this contest. We hope this initiative will provide students with an opportunity to have fun while learning more about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace."

The contest challenges students to develop an original video that can be used in social media to illustrate either the importance of working safely on the job or the right to be paid fairly. Students with winning entries will be awarded an individual or team cash prize as well as a matching cash prize for their respective high school.

"I encourage all students to take an interest in their health and safety and become more aware of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace," said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Jody Carr. "This initiative is an excellent opportunity for students to become engaged in a topic of importance while using their creativity and energy to support a worthwhile cause."

The contest will run until April 5, at which time all video submissions will be judged by a review panel. Winning entries will automatically be entered into the national It's Your Job social media video contest. National entries will be available for Canadians to view during online voting in the late spring.

Additional employment standards materials have also been recently developed to promote awareness of employee rights and responsibilities. These materials include an online form which enables employees to file employment standards complaints electronically; an employee logbook to help people tracking their hours worked; and online information videos.

"The development of these materials supports our efforts to promote employee rights and responsibilities and highlights our many employment standards services available to the public," said Soucy.

More information about the contest and new employment standards materials are online.

LINKS:

●    Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour
●    WorkSafeNB

05-02-13