Resources
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Tailored Pre-Employment Testing Given the Green Light
October 2018
In BC Hydro and Power Authority -and- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 258 (Arbitrator John Hall) (May 23, 2018), the employer implemented a pre-employment drug and alcohol testing requirement for new applicants applying for safety-sensitive positions under the hiring hall provision of the collective agreement.
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Have I Constructively Dismissed an Employee by Putting Them on Unpaid Administrative Suspension?
October 2018
A recent decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that suspending an employee without pay (i.e. an “administrative suspension”), including while the employer conducts an investigation, can constitute constructive dismissal. The Court provided guidance on when and how employees can be placed on suspension during an employer’s investigation.
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Consider This: A Fresh Look at the Legal Need for Consideration
September 2018
The B.C. Court of Appeal may recently have offered an answer to a question that has always vexed employers: why must employers provide their employees with something in exchange for a minor contract modification? The short answer is that they may no longer have to.
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Post-Incident Drug Testing Policies in the Age of Cannabis
September 2018
What do low speed collisions, marijuana, and post-incident drug testing have in common? Those are the facts that were before the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Canadian Energy Workers’ Association v ATCO Electric Ltd, 2018 ABQB 258.
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Back To School — Does Retraining Count As Reasonable Mitigation Of Damages?
August 2018
In Benjamin v. Cascades Canada ULC, 2017 ONSC 2583, the plaintiff had worked as an unskilled labourer with the defendant company for 28 years. The company had eliminated all of its production functions at one of its plant locations, resulting in the dismissal of 41 employees, including the plaintiff.
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The Grievor Was Reinstated, Or Was He?
July 2018
In the case of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 1620 v. Lower Churchill Transmission Construction Employers’ Assn. Inc. (Uprichard Grievance), [2017] N.L.L.A.A. No. 4, the arbitrator was faced with a reconsideration of his earlier decision to uphold the discharge of an employee for his failure to disclose medical marijuana use.
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On “Ambushes” and the Rules of Engagement for Statutorily Protected Leaves of Absence
July 2018
A late 2017 arbitration decision out of British Columbia — Kone Inc. v. International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 82 (Kelpin Grievance), [2017] B.C.C.A.A.A. No. 128 (McEwen) — confirmed that employees cannot “ambush” employers with an after-the-fact claim that going AWOL was actually a legislatively protected leave. In this case, the leave claimed was B.C. “family responsibility leave”.
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