Labour and Employment Law Blog

On July 14, 2020, the British Columbia government introduced Bill 23 – 2020: Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2020. Bill 23 responds to recent independent reviews of the workers compensation system in British Columbia and was developed following consultation with employers, labour stakeholders, and representatives of Indigenous organizations. If passed, Bill ...

As we have outlined in Part 1 and Part 2 of our blog series, ‘Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation’, employers have a duty to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace as much as reasonably practical. Consequently, employers may determine it is appropriate to conduct certain active screening, such as questionnaires, temperature screening, and testing ...

In a recent decision, Waksdale v. Swegon North America, 2020 ONCA 391, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) held that a “without cause” termination provision in an employment agreement was unenforceable because a separate “with cause” termination provision did not comply with the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ON ESA”).

Mr. Waksdale had ...

The B.C. government has announced that the allowable length of a temporary layoff period under the Employment Standards Act will be further extended during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 16 weeks (within a 20 week consecutive period) to a maximum of 24 weeks. The text of the amended legislation has not yet been released. Read the government news release here.

Our previous blog ...

In A-Teck Appraisals Ltd. v Constandinou, 2020 BCSC 135 (“Constandinou”), the B.C. Supreme Court stayed a wrongful dismissal action on the basis that it was precluded by the arbitration clause in the former employee’s employment contract. The B.C. court took a different approach than the Ontario Court of Appeal in Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc. et al, 2019 ONCA 1 ...

It is astonishing that in the same week that we’ve read about astronauts going into space in a reusable rocket, we have also experienced the horrors of humanity reading about the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. It is a horrific paradox and many of us are asking – what can I do? And we in Lawson Lundell are also asking ourselves what can we do? How can ...

In our earlier two blog posts, Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation: Part 1, Part 2, we addressed the occupational health and safety issues surrounding returning the workplace to safe operation. This blog post addresses the employment issues related to managing the return of employees to the workplace from temporary layoff or working from home. Beyond advising ...

On June 1, 2020, hourly minimum wage rates were increased in British Columbia.

Details of the increase include:

• General minimum wage increases 5.4% to $14.60 per hour, an increase of $0.75 per hour.
• Liquor server minimum wage increases 9.8% to $13.95 per hour, an increase of $1.25 per hour.
• Resident caretaker minimum wage, per month, increases 5.4% to $876.35 for those who ...

This is the second in a two part series on ‘Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation’. This part deals with the renewed significance of existing OH&S requirements in the context of COVID-19. Before considering these OH&S requirements, we will first provide an update on Part 1 of this two part series issued on May 14, 2020.

Part 1: Updates on the requirement for a Safe ...

You can find our previous blog post on the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy here.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced today that the 75% Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the “Wage Subsidy”) will be extended for an additional 12 weeks to August 29, 2020. It was originally set to expire on June 6, 2020. The announcement indicates that the Government will be consulting with ...