On February 19th, Prime Minister Trudeau announced a plan to increase the number of weeks available for benefits under the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) by 12 weeks, thus extending the maximum duration of the benefits to 38 weeks. The government also intends to double the number of weeks ...
In a recent decision, the BC Human Rights Tribunal more than doubled its previous highest ever award of damages for injury to dignity. Facts The complainant, Mr. Levan Francis filed his complaint against his employer, BC Corrections in 2012 and left his position at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam in 2013. During ...
In The Sales Associate v. Aurora Biomed Inc. and others (No. 3), 2021 BCHRT 5, The BC Human Rights Tribunal awarded a sales associate $20,000 for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect after being terminated for raising a sexual harassment complaint and experiencing discrimination at her workplace. Facts A sales associate for Aurora Biomed alleged ...
Hetherington v Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, 2020 SKQB 110 For the purposes of determining severance entitlement, a Saskatchewan Court found that an employee worked for the Government of Saskatchewan for a total of 28 years, despite voluntarily leaving her employment for 29 months during that time. The employee was awarded damages in lieu of ...
Facts/Analysis AE Hospitality (“AE”) hired supervisors, bartenders, chefs, and servers to work for two catering companies at events (the “Workers”). Only a few chefs had a written agreement. Most of the servers had written agreements stating they were independent contractors. The head chefs of the catering companies would select the AE chef to work at ...
Your employment contracts are one of the most important documents for your company. The employment contract details the particulars of employment. The contract provides the start date, the wage rate, entitlement to compensation over and above base salary and the obligations once employment has ended. The employment contract can be used to specify non-competition obligations ...
As January comes to a close it is a great time to take stock of your employment practices and to create an annual plan for updating all policies and practices to ensure that they have incorporated any changes to the law that have occurred in the last year. Take the time to ensure that your ...
A recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision highlights why employers should exercise care when recruiting employees from their competitors. Facts The plaintiff in GEA Refrigeration Canada Inc. v. Chang et al., 2020 BCCA 361 was a company that designed manufactured industrial hygienic freezers (“GEA”). GEA’s freezers had several unique design features, and GEA ...
The circumstances surrounding the resignation of Governor General Julie Payette underscore the obligations of employers. At its base, the requirement for Canada to deal with the difficulties associated with Ms. Payette arise because of duties and obligations imposed in employment relationships. After complaints arose, Canada hired an independent consulting firm to complete a review (investigation) ...
2020 presented unprecedented challenges for workplaces, requiring employers to be creative and strategic in responding to the significant changes required by the COVID-19 pandemic. The close of 2020 brought with it the approval of two vaccines, with more on the horizon. These vaccines will hopefully assist in putting the pandemic and all the resulting restrictions ...
