Labour and Employment Law Blog

As the May long weekend approaches, it may be a good time for employers to consider reviewing or implementing social media policies. With the accessibility of social media, employees should be aware of corporate codes of conduct that apply to social media use.

A social media policy (also called a social networking policy) is a corporate code of conduct that provides ...

On April 30, 2019, the British Columbia government introduced Bill 30, Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2019 in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly.

Bill 30 follows the recommendations set out in Recommendations for Amendments to the Labour Relations Code (the "Labour Relations Code Report"), a government-commissioned report from an independent panel ...

On April 29, 2019, Labour Minister Harry Bains introduced in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for first reading Bill 8, the Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2019. If passed into law, Bill 8 will be the first major revision of the Employment Standards Act (the "ESA") in about 15 years.

Bill 8 introduces a number of changes to the ESA. Notably, the proposed ...

Nitrogen Studios, the Vancouver animation firm behind the animated film Sausage Party, was recently ordered by the BC Employment Standards Branch to pay overtime pay to non-unionized animators on the basis that its employees did not fall within the “high technology professional” exemption in the Employment Standards Regulation. The animators claimed that they ...

A recent BC Supreme Court case is yet another reminder that courts will carefully scrutinize any term which purports to displace an employee’s common law entitlement to reasonable notice of termination of employment, particularly where the term has not been clearly and unambiguously communicated and accepted by the employee. Employers can contract out of the ...

The Ontario Court of Appeal in Ruston v. Keddco Mfg (2011) Ltd., 2019 ONCA 125, upheld the lower court’s decision awarding over $1.1 million in damages in a wrongful dismissal action.

Facts

Mr. Ruston, the President of Keddco, was terminated after 11 years of service. At the termination meeting, Mr. Ruston was advised that his employment was terminated for cause because he ...

On March 19, 2019, the Federal Government tabled its latest budget, which introduces changes to the tax rules applicable to contributions to Specified Multi Employer Plans (SMEPs) in respect of employees over age 71 and re-employed retirees. On July 30, 2019, the draft legislative proposals to implement these changes were released for public comment.

What are the Current ...

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 ...

On February 18, British Columbians will join Canadians in several other provinces to celebrate Family Day. It is an opportunity to spend time with the people who are, for many Canadians, the most valuable aspect of their lives. The fact that some provinces have declared a statutory holiday for this purpose reinforces the truth of the old adage – there is nothing more ...

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 ...