Labour and Employment Law Blog

The B.C. and federal government have announced new benefits for workers impacted by COVID-19.

B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers

The B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers will provide a one-time $1,000 payment to people who lost income because of COVID-19. B.C. residents who receive Employment Insurance (“EI”) or the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit ...

This blog post combines previous posts released on April 2 and 9, 2020, and contains additional details from Bill C-14, “A second Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19” (“Bill”), which received Royal assent on April 11, 2020.

A summary of the details released, to date, on the federal government’s proposed Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy is ...

NOTE: The blog below has become outdated. To get the most up to date information on CEWS please read this blog instead: The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy: Helping Employers Keep Employees 

On April 8, 2020 the federal government announced additional guidance on the eligibility criteria for businesses to access the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (“CEWS”). An initial ...

NOTE: The blog below has become outdated. To get the most up to date information on CEWS please read this blog instead: The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy: Helping Employers Keep Employees 

The following is a summary of the details released, to date, on the federal government’s proposed Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the “Wage Subsidy”). This program has not yet been ...

A recent decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) held that a professor telling a subordinate employee (the “Complainant”) that “you will have to let me know if this is a misstep but I am crazy about you” (the “Comment”) did not constitute sexual harassment pursuant to the B.C. Human Rights Code.

Background Facts

The ...

The B.C. Court of Appeal released a decision last week on Lewis v. WestJet Airlines Ltd., a case we reported on our blog last May. The Court of Appeal upheld the B.C. Supreme Court’s decision that the proposed class action lawsuit should not be dismissed at an early stage, because it does disclose a reasonable cause of action and is not bound to fail.

This case is of key ...

Employers are increasingly concerned about preventing sexual harassment in the workplace – not only to ensure that all workers are given an equal opportunity to thrive in a safe and respectful workplace environment, but also because of concerns around vicarious liability, class actions, and PR scandals.

Based on our experience advising clients with respect to ...

We previously reported changes to Ontario’s Employment Standards legislation. Some of those changes are now being undone by Bill 47.

Bill 47, the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018, received Royal Assent on November 21, 2018, marking a significant change to Ontario’s labour and employment law landscape. The new legislation represents the provincial ...

On November 1, 2018, the British Columbia Government tabled Bill 50, Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2018.  The Bill would amend the Human Rights Code to reflect the recommendations contained in the December 2017 report of the Parliamentary Secretary of Sport and Multiculturalism, “A Human Rights Commission for the 21st Century: British Columbians Talk About Human ...

This is probably not the first article you will read today on cannabis. Cannabis is now legal in Canada, but strictly regulated. Due to the intersection between human rights, privacy, and occupational health and safety laws, employers often have a challenging task in ensuring their employees are free from impairment.

Here are our top tips for employers:

1. Have an up-to-date ...