When an employer terminates 50 or more employees from a single location within a two-month period, the British Columbia Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”) imposes additional obligations.
These “group termination” provisions are frequently underappreciated by employees who have shown incredible loyalty...
In February, 2020, Mr. Paul Cheetham filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of two groups of Bank of Montreal (BMO) employees: private wealth consultants (“PWCs”) and mortgage specialists (“MSs”), the class members. In Cheetham v. Bank of Montreal, 2023...
An employee who is fired without just cause is entitled to reasonable notice of termination or severance pay instead of that notice. Determining how much severance an employee is entitled to depends on several factors including legislation, the common law,...
Image: "Vaccine with a possible cure for Coronavirus and Planet Earth" by focusonmore.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0
A few weeks ago, we wrote about vaccines and work.
About one week after that, on April 1, 2021, the government of B.C. announced amendments to B.C.’s Employment Standards Act to include a job-protected leave to allow employees time away from...
Image: "clocks" by Leo Reynolds is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
In March, 2020, as fears mounted over covid-19, the Supreme Court of British Columbia and British Columbia Court of Appeal suspended their regular operations.
I expressed concern at the time with courthouses closing at a time when they are needed more...
Alberta’s government recently enacted substantial amendments to Alberta’s Employment Standards Code (ESC), through the Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act, 2020.
The stated purpose was to “save employers time and money.”
Section 63 of the ESC now deems layoffs over 90...
Image: "Unemployed" by jronaldlee is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Earlier this summer, the British Columbia government extended the Employment Standards Act (ESA) temporary layoff provisions to a maximum of 24 weeks for cases in which the COVID-19 emergency is a cause of all or part of the layoff. That...
Image: "Ping Pong Balls" by Peter Alfred Hess is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Alberta’s workplace legislation is starting to resemble a ping pong ball.
After the NDP formed the Alberta government in 2013, it amended Alberta's workplace legislation, including Employment Standards Code and Labour Relations Code, to include provisions consistent with those in other...
Many employees off work amid COVID-19 are wondering about their rights.
Employers who have curtailed operations are wondering what liabilities may be lurking if upon resuming normal operations they return some but not all employees to work.
When Can Employers Lay off...
Image: "uber" by stockcatalog is licensed under CC BY 2.0 ; https://www.flickr.com/photos/stockcatalog/40834812504/in/photostream/
The Supreme Court of Canada recently released a decision that considered whether a clause in Uber’s contracts is legally valid.
Mr. David Heller, an Uber driver, challenged a provision in Uber’s contract.
To become an Uber driver, Mr. Heller had to accept,...
