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July 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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  • 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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Many organizations have policy manuals. They are a collection of policies which set out how certain issues are to be handled within the organization.  Examples include vacation, job protected leaves such as maternity or parental leave, dress codes, hours of...

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  • "Canadian Bills/Coins" by anitakhart is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
When is an employer able to make deductions from a British Columbian employee’s wages?    Section 21 of the British Columbia Employment Standards Act (ESA) states that except as permitted by provincial or federal legislation,  “an employer must not, directly or...

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  • Photo: "sshhh. dont say it! the x-word is the un-word of the day. and tomorrow!" by pieceoplastic is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
How many times have you heard it?   You ask for important information on wait lists to get into a desired program: how many people are on the wait list? How many in a certain category?  You ask for certain information about...

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If you have filed a Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) claim within the past 15 years or so in BC, you may be well aware that dealing with the B.C. WCB can extremely frustrating. In 1917, the Workers Compensation Act (the...

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