Resources: Labour
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Amendment to BC Labour Relations Code Increases Risks for Supply Chain and Businesses in BC During Federal Work Stoppages
April 29, 2024
Under the unassuming title – Bill 9, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 – the BC government has introduced a set of small but significant changes (the “Amendment”) to the BC Labour Relations Code (the “Code”). Specifically, it has amended the definition of “strike” and “person” under the Code so that, as explained in the information bulletin published on March 11, 2024.
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Watch Your Back: Employee Ordered to Pay $112,320 in Damages for Soliciting His Employer’s Client
February 2, 2024
In Catch Engineering Partnership v. Mai, 2023 ABKB 279, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench awarded $112,320 in damages against a former employee who breached the non-solicitation provisions in his employment agreement.
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Update on Five Paid Sick Days Under Employment Standards Act
January 26, 2022
The New Year brought employers in British Columbia a requirement to provide their employees with five paid sick (illness or injury) days. Since the requirement came into effect on January 1, 2022, we have been fielding questions about the implementation of the five paid sick days in the workplace. Below we highlight some of our more frequently asked questions.
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Arbitrators Consider Vaccination Policies
December 7, 2021
In the past few weeks, arbitrators have begun to issue decisions considering the reasonableness of COVID-19 vaccination policies in unionized workplaces. The following three decisions out of Ontario provide some key takeaways for employers.
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ESA: Five Days Paid Personal Illness or Injury (Sick) Leave, as of January 1, 2022
November 25, 2021
On May 28, 2021 we issued an update regarding Bill 13 Employment Standards Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021 (“Bill 13”), which amended the British Columbia Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”). Bill 13 added temporary paid COVID leave (ending December 31, 2021) and added paid leave for personal illness or injury commencing January 1, 2022 (“Paid Sick Leave”), with the amount of days to be determined.
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Vaccination Status and the “New Normal”
August 13, 2021
As governments and businesses seek to avoid closures that have so heavily impacted the economy and everyday life, many are looking to vaccine passports and/or considering mandatory vaccination in the workplace to facilitate a return to “normal” operations.
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The BC Human Rights Commissioner Weighs in on Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policies
August 6, 2021
As vaccination rates increase, and the province continues to progress through each phase of its reopening plan, one of the biggest questions facing employers is whether to implement a mandatory vaccination policy for employees and, in some cases, customers. This is a complex and highly context-specific question that engages human rights issues, privacy issues, and workplace safety considerations.
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COVID-19-Related Misconduct is Nothing to Sneeze At
July 29, 2021
In a decision issued on May 10, 2021[1], Arbitrator Paul Love dismissed a discipline grievance related to COVID-19-related misconduct. The discipline was issued at a time when, in the words of the arbitrator, “there was a dearth of arbitral jurisprudence” with respect to such misconduct.
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