Labour and Employment Law Blog

In the recent decision of Parmar v. Tribe Management Inc., 2022 BCSC 1675, the BC Supreme Court held that placing an employee on unpaid leave because they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine did not amount to constructive dismissal. This case is one of the first civil court decisions in Canada that considered the validity of mandatory vaccination policies where employees ...

Employers and employees saw the workplace change rapidly since March 2020. After a whirlwind of workforce changes and policies, litigation on the appropriateness of COVID-19 workplace measures is working its way through the courts, and the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench has recently released a decision on masking. In the recent decision, Benke v Loblaw Companies ...

Many employers establish policies that they expect their employees to follow, but a policy is not likely to be followed if there are no consequences for an employee who chooses not to do so.  If an employer wants to use the stick of discipline and possible termination of employment for cause for a breach of policy, the employer should take note of the following guidance.

In order ...

Two recent decisions from the Ontario Court of Appeal demonstrate that courts are moving away from assessing the severity of sexual harassment on a “spectrum,” and towards treating every incident of sexual harassment as serious.

Render v. ThyssenKrupp Elevator (Canada) Limited (2022 ONCA 310) dealt with a manager who was terminated after a single incident of ...

Twenty years ago, a really entertaining movie came out called “Catch Me if You Can”, which featured Leonardo DiCaprio as a con artist who found work as a doctor, lawyer, and pilot by forging his credentials.

That film highlighted how far charm and confidence can get someone in the hiring process. Recently, we had our own version in British Columbia where a woman worked as a ...

On July 1, 2021, B.C. moved into Step 3 of its COVID-19 Restart Plan. As part of this phase, B.C. employers are no longer required to maintain a WorkSafeBC approved COVID-19 Safety Plan. Instead, they are required to transition to a Communicable Disease Prevention Plan. 

What is a Communicable Disease Prevention Plan?

It is a plan that outlines the steps an employer is taking to ...

The Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130 (the “Regulations”) came into force on January 1, 2021. The Regulations introduced significant changes to how federally regulated organizations are required to prevent and address workplace harassment and violence. Specifically, federal employers must:

• conduct workplace ...

As we look forward to returning to our normal routines, after we have all had the opportunity to be vaccinated, many people are wondering what permanent workplace changes will remain in place or will be introduced for workers; as well as the pets they either acquired or became more attached to during quarantine. I am certain my dog thinks I decided to stay home with him all day ...

Federally regulated employers in the private sector should mark their calendars for September 1, 2020, when changes to the Canada Labour Code (“Code”) and the new Standards for Work-Integrated Learning Activities Regulations (the “Regulations”) will come into force.

These upcoming legislative changes are part of the federal government’s ongoing ...

Today the master and servant relationship between Ebenezer Scrooge and his clerk Bob Cratchit appears to our eyes an anachronism. For starters, Scrooge's penny-pinching ways would likely have him offside of employment standards provisions guaranteeing workers a minimum wage and paid statutory holidays.

In the modern world of employment, employers realize that ...