Skip to main content

Employment Standards

  • Image: "Vaccine with a possible cure for Coronavirus and Planet Earth" by focusonmore.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0
A few weeks ago, we wrote about vaccines and work. About one week after that, on April 1, 2021, the government of B.C. announced amendments to B.C.’s Employment Standards Act to include a job-protected leave to allow employees time away from...

Read More

  • Image: "clocks" by Leo Reynolds is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
In March, 2020, as fears mounted over covid-19, the Supreme Court of British Columbia and British Columbia Court of Appeal suspended their regular operations. I expressed concern at the time with courthouses closing at a time when they are needed more...

Read More

Alberta’s government recently enacted substantial amendments to Alberta’s Employment Standards Code (ESC), through the Restoring Balance in Alberta’s Workplaces Act, 2020.   The stated purpose was to “save employers time and money.” Section 63 of the ESC now deems layoffs over 90...

Read More

  • Image: "Unemployed" by jronaldlee is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Earlier this summer, the British Columbia government extended the Employment Standards Act (ESA) temporary layoff provisions to a maximum of 24 weeks for cases in which the COVID-19 emergency is a cause of all or part of the layoff. That...

Read More

  • Image: "Ping Pong Balls" by Peter Alfred Hess is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Alberta’s workplace legislation is starting to resemble a ping pong ball. After the NDP formed the Alberta government in 2013, it amended Alberta's workplace legislation, including Employment Standards Code and Labour Relations Code, to include  provisions consistent with those in other...

Read More

Many employees off work amid COVID-19 are wondering about their rights. Employers who have curtailed operations are wondering what liabilities may be lurking if upon resuming normal operations they return some but not all employees to work. When Can Employers Lay off...

Read More

  • Image: "uber" by stockcatalog is licensed under CC BY 2.0 ; https://www.flickr.com/photos/stockcatalog/40834812504/in/photostream/
The Supreme Court of Canada recently released a decision that considered whether a clause in Uber’s contracts is legally valid. Mr. David Heller, an Uber driver, challenged a provision in Uber’s contract. To become an Uber driver, Mr. Heller had to accept,...

Read More

  • Photo: "6 feet" by artnoose is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Amid fears over corona virus and declarations of emergency, many employers moved away from physical workplaces, toward either requiring employees to work remotely from home, or allowing employees to take leaves of absence. British Columbia’s state of emergency has now been...

Read More

  • Photo: "Corona Virus" by danielfoster437 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) has been amended in response to concerns regarding covid-19.  The amendments are now in effect. They include two new job protected unpaid leaves of absence: a covid-19 related leave; and an unpaid illness or injury leave. BC’s...

Read More