Resources: Health + Safety
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Changes to the Workers Compensation Act Now in Effect
August 19, 2020
Bill 23, which introduces significant changes to the Workers Compensation Act (the “Act”), received royal assent on August 14, 2020. The Act contains 34 provisions including changes relating to compensation, assessment, and occupational health and safety matters. Bill 23 was tabled by Minister of Labour, Harry Bains, on July 14, 2020, and was previously discussed in our July 21,2020, update.
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Changes to the Workers Compensation Act Now in Effect -
B.C. Government Proposes Significant Changes to the Workers Compensation Act
July 21, 2020
On July 14, 2020, the Minister of Labour tabled Bill 23, Workers’ Compensation Amendment Act, 2020 which proposed a number of significant changes to the Workers Compensation Act, RSBC 2019, c. 1 (the “Act”). The Act itself was already revised significantly earlier this year in an organizational revision which primarily reorganized the provisions and made minor alterations to wording.
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B.C. Government Proposes Significant Changes to the Workers Compensation Act -
Refusal of Unsafe Work: Lessons Learned From SARS
July 6, 2020
As British Columbia moves from Phase 2 into Phase 3 of its Restart Plan, employees will increasingly be asked to return to work and resume work as before – subject of course to the requirements and recommendations of the government, public health authorities and WorkSafeBC.
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Refusal of Unsafe Work: Lessons Learned From SARS -
COVID-19 Update – March 27, 2020
March 2020
On the morning of March 27, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a series of significant measures designed to help certain employers weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Finance also published a Backgrounder, which provides further detail on certain of these measures. While many of the key details are pending (we understand that further details are set to be released between now and Monday, March 30, 2020), employers should be aware of these measures, and start to consider how these measures may impact their plans as they continue to navigate these challenging times.
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COVID-19 Update – March 26, 2020 – Federal Bulletin
March 2020
This bulletin addresses the new COVID-19 leave of absence of up to 16 weeks’ duration that is now included in the Canada Labour Code. The leave is available to employees of federally regulated employers who are unable or unavailable to work for reasons related to COVID-19. There may be additional changes of interest to you in the amendments but a high-level summary of the new leave is set out below.
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COVID-19 Update – March 26, 2020 – Federal Bulletin -
COVID-19 Update – March 25, 2020
March 2020
On the morning of March 25, 2020, the first wave of federal COVID-19 legislation, An Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19 (the “COVID-19 Act”) was passed by the Senate and received Royal Assent. This omnibus legislation provides for a number of legislative changes that will impact employers and employees.
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COVID-19 Update – March 25, 2020 -
COVID-19 Update – March 24, 2020
March 2020
On March 23, 2020, the B.C. Legislature passed amendments to the B.C. Employment Standards Act, and last week, WorkSafeBC published a series of recommendations to employers and employees navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This memorandum addresses these, and other, recent developments that will be of significance to employers operating in B.C. and elsewhere.
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COVID-19 Update – March 24, 2020 -
COVID-19 Update – March 19, 2020
March 2020
The purpose of this March 19, 2020 bulletin is to provide additional COVID-19 information to employers regarding Employment Insurance benefits, the federal stimulus package of $82 billion, and new provincial job-protected leaves of absence.
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COVID-19 Update – March 19, 2020 -
Saucy Tweet Results in For Cause Termination of Employee
February 2020
Fastenal Canada terminated B.C. employee Hussien Mehaidi for expressing his outrage on Twitter for the company’s Christmas gift of Gets Sauced BBQ sauce and a company
branded wooden scraper. Mehaidi tweeted from an anonymous account with zero followers a tweet which read: “what kind of multi-billion dollar company gifts its Canadian employees barbecue sauce as a holiday gift? Yet the USA employees stuff their face with an actual holiday gift box!”Read More +
Saucy Tweet Results in For Cause Termination of Employee -
Coronavirus: Information Bulletin for Employers
January 2020
As of today’s date, January 28, 2020, more than 100 people have died from the Wuhan coronavirus – a novel (new) coronavirus – and more than 4,500 others have been infected. A warning has been issued to travellers to avoid all non-essential travel to China and cases of infection have been reported in countries other than China, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
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Coronavirus: Information Bulletin for Employers