Earlier this year, our team blogged about a Saskatchewan court decision (Hetherington) which considered whether an earlier period of employment with the same employer counted for severance purposes. In the case of Currie v Nylene Canada Inc., 2021 ONSC 1922, the Ontario Supreme Court considered a “break in service” argument, but in different circumstances. Significantly, ...
In the case of Wong v Polynova Industries Inc., 2021 BCSC 603, the BC Supreme Court confirmed that a voluntary resignation by an employee requires an unequivocal act to repudiate the employment contract, and the employer must take steps to accept this repudiation. Facts Mr. Wong was an employee of Polynova Industries Ltd. for 15 ...
A recent BC Supreme Court decision in Moore v. Instow Enterprises Ltd. provides helpful guidance regarding the extent to which a dismissed employee must go to mitigate their losses by searching for comparable employment. Facts The plaintiff in this case was a 53 year old employee who had worked at Kal Tire as a commercial ...
On Wednesday, July 21, 2021, our Workplace Law Group hosted the second “Ask Us Anything Employer Webinar” focused on working from home. The panel discussion provided insights from: Scott Marcinkow, Rose Keith, QC, Ryan Chan and Neal Parker. Our panelists were joined by Jeanne Posey of our Business Law group who responded to questions relating to employer obligations from a tax perspective. Check out the recorded ...
All workers in BC are covered by the British Columbia Employment Standards Act (the “Act”). The Act provides employees with a number of job protected leaves, some of which are paid and most of which are unpaid. These leaves trigger duties and responsibilities on employers. There are a variety of different types of leaves and ...
The Federal government has released an Interim Order 8 under the Employment Insurance Act (“Act”). It should have an effect on severance payments made to employees who were terminated after September 2020. In ordinary circumstances, if a terminated employee is receiving Employment Insurance and then receives a severance payment, the employee will have to make ...
On June 29, 2021, I wrote a blog post about the decision in Hogan v 1187938 BC Ltd., 2021 BCSC 1021, where the BC Supreme Court confirmed that an employee’s receipt of Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”) payments after termination should be deducted from an award of damages for wrongful dismissal. That decision was released ...
Just like anything else in an employment relationship, the Employment Standards Act (the “Act”) defines the minimum that you must provide to employees in terms of vacation and vacation pay. A failure to comply with the requirements of the Act can have significant financial consequences. In addition to requiring you to comply, there are significant ...
More restrictions are being lifted in British Columbia on July 1 as the province moves to step 3 of its restart plan, which is a significant step towards normalcy. The state of emergency due to COVID-19 will end on June 30 at 11:59 p.m. With the end of the state of emergency, life for British ...
In the case of Hogan v 1187938 BC Ltd., 2021 BCSC 1021, the BC Supreme Court confirmed that an employee’s receipt of Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”) payments after termination should be deducted from an award of damages for wrongful dismissal. Facts Mr. Hogan started working at the defendant’s automotive dealership in 1998 as a ...
