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  • September 10, 2019
  • Photo: "104:365 - a little justice" by orangesparrow is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Do you assume that a union means greater protection for workers?  Sometimes this is certainly true.  In many cases, however, it is not.   When a union fails to file a grievance on behalf of a unionized worker, or fails to pursue...

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  • September 2, 2019
  • Photo: "1984 & Animal Farm" by paul breen is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Labour day is an occasion to consider the plight of unionized workers. George Orwell, in Animal Farm, wrote about hard working farm animals who were treated badly.  Having had enough, they overthrew the humans.  They took over the farm, and renamed it...

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  • August 29, 2019
  • Photo: "Canada" by Michel MARIE is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Amendments to the Canada Labour Code become effective on September 1, 2019.  The Canada Labour Code applies to employers in federally regulated industries. This includes banks, telecommunications, and transportation traveling outside provincial boundaries. The amendments arise from Bill C-63, the Budget...

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  • August 14, 2019
  • Photo: "Babies" by Mika Peltomaa is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
I was surprised to learn several years ago that third party assisted reproduction is a frontier in which the wild, wild west remains largely intact.  Nail salons and cattle breeding are more closely regulated that the creation of human beings. It...

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  • August 4, 2019
  • Impage: courtesy of pexels
There is no doubt about it. Losing your job sucks. It can be one of life’s major turning points. Courts acknowledge that it is normal to feel a certain amount of distress and hurt feelings when losing one’s job.  Sometimes, though, an...

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  • July 27, 2019
  • Photo Credit: "unemployed (222/365)" by LeRamz is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Many employers assume that if work slows down, they can simply “lay off” workers temporarily until things pick up again. Some employees in this situation may wonder if they have been dismissed. Under the B.C. Employment Standards Act (ESA), a “temporary layoff”...

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  • July 14, 2019
  • Photo: "We tried to save the innovation economy" by henribergius is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
What happens when a smoker does not want to stop smoking, but whose adjacent neighbor is a non-smoker with a health condition? Let's say the health condition worsens with exposure to second-hand smoke.  Let's also say they live in a...

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