Resources: Employment

Is This Thing On?: Surreptitious Recording Can Constitute Just Cause for Dismissal

Your employee places their cellphone on the table as they sit down for the meeting, angling it slightly towards you. You wonder – is this meeting being recorded?

The ubiquity of cellphones means that HR professionals should assume all conversations with employees are being recorded. But are there any consequences for employees who secretly record conversations with colleagues?

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Insolence, Insubordination and After-Acquired Evidence of Just Cause

On November 9, 2021, the B.C. Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Golob v. Fort St. John (City), 2021 BCSC 2192.

The case concerned a wrongful dismissal claim against the City of Fort St. John by its former Deputy Fire Chief.

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Clarification to Law of Employee Surveillance

Elevator law, according to one colleague and despite our best attempts to intervene, has its ups and downs. It has a unique set of characteristics, including its own elevator union (the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC)), industry-specific collective agreements and a workforce of largely independent technicians.

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Labour Law in the Time of Cholera

2020 was full of surprises, and 2021 continued to bring new challenges for the profession. Our corner of toil in the legal vineyards was not immune. For labour and employment lawyers, 2021 at times felt like a treadmill of legislative change, workplace vaccination policies (do not call it a mandate unless employers are forcibly injecting employees…), and helping employers plan to keep their workplaces safe.

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Through the Looking Glass: 2022 BC Labour Law Forecast

It is the start of a new year and we are ready to look ahead. In B.C., we are anticipating some significant labour decisions in 2022, which could be consequential for unionized workplaces. Join us as we fall down the rabbit hole of Charter challenges and vaccination policies.

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No More Tolerance for Covert Discrimination

Cybulsky v. Hamilton Health Sciences, [2021] O.H.R.T.D. No. 209 (Letheren) is a boundary-pushing case that shows a growing intolerance for sex or gender discrimination in the workplace, including covert sex or gender discrimination.

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Can I Quit and Start Competing: Dispute Born of Competing Fertility Clinics

Genesis Fertility Inc. v. Yuzpe 2021 BCCA 420 has it all: intrigue, betrayal and even a “shotgun.” In addition, it has some useful takeaways for employers who are navigating employee relations in times of significant organizational change.

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BC Human Rights Tribunal Confirms that the Duty to Accommodate Does Not Extend to Providing Employees with Unproductive Work

In Kelly v. Saputo Dairy Products Canada, 2021 BCHRT 128, the BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed a complaint made by a former employee claiming that his employer failed to take adequate steps to accommodate his disability.

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Challenges With Removing a Matter From Fast Track Litigation

A matter may qualify for fast track litigation under Rule 15-1 of the B.C. Supreme Court Civil Rules if the plaintiff is seeking to recover less than $100,000 or the case can be tried within three days. Fast track litigation limits the recovery of legal costs to $11,000, unless the court orders otherwise.

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Employer Restructuring and Transitions: An Important Contextual Factor in Constructive Dismissals

In Costello v. ITB Marine Group Ltd., 2021 BCCA 154, the BC Court of Appeal upheld a trial judge’s finding that the plaintiff had not been constructively dismissed from her employment when some of her employment duties were changed as a result of her employer’s restructuring.

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