Termination Without Cause While on Short-Term Disability: Does it Warrant Aggravated Damages?

11. June 2020 0
Martin v. Yellow Pages Digital & Media Solutions Limited, 2018 BCSC 2557 The employee brought a summary trial application for wrongful dismissal. There was no question that the employee was terminated without cause. The parties disagreed on the length of reasonable notice, the quantum of reasonable notice, and whether or not aggravated damages were warranted. Despite the ...

BC MINIMUM WAGE INCREASED ON JUNE 1, 2020

01. June 2020 0
The BC government is moving ahead with their planned 75 cent/hour increase to the minimum wage, which comes into effect on June 1, 2020.  This increase brings the minimum wage to $14.60/hour and is the third increase in a series of four scheduled increases as part of the government’s plan to bring the minimum wage ...

Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (“LEEFF”)

On May 11, the federal government announced the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (“LEEFF”) program to help large Canadian for-profit businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn.  The objective of this program is to help keep Canada’s largest employers operating, avoid bankruptcy of otherwise viable firms if possible, and ...

New Emergency Community Support Fund for Charities and Non-Profit Organizations

28. April 2020 0
On April 21, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund to help charities and non-profit organizations support Canadians who are most vulnerable to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  These vulnerable populations are experiencing a disproportionate impact of the pandemic in terms of health, social, and economic impacts.  They ...

FRUSTRATION OF CONTRACT DUE TO COVID-19 – ESA EXAMPLE

09. April 2020 0
With the current COVID-19 pandemic affecting virtually all industries, many businesses have been forced to temporarily close their doors or scale back their operations due to the nature of their business. This has resulted in employers considering their options and liabilities for reducing their workforce by laying off or terminating their employees. We discussed these ...

An Update on COVID-19 Essential Services

27. March 2020 0
On March 26, 2020, B.C. Public Safety Minister, Mike Farnworth, released a list of essential services as part of the government’s further measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.  According to the province, essential services are “those daily services essential to preserving life, health, public safety and basic societal functioning. They are the services British ...

5 WAYS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF USING VOLUNTEERS

25. November 2019 0
Many organizations (including charities, non-profits, and religious organizations) rely on a mixture of employees and volunteers to help them in their day to day functions.  The volunteers can play a very important role in an organization, but volunteers can also be a source of potential liability.  A volunteer could later claim to be an employee ...