Monday, March 26th, 2012
You might have heard or read something in the past few months about internships—their status with respect to employment standards and whether it’s even legal to employ such workers without paying them. It’s no small issue. Many organizations rely on unpaid interns to do work for which they can’t afford to hire an employee proper…
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Monday, March 26th, 2012
A regular issue for employers is whether the provisions in their employee handbook are enforceable in the same manner as an employment contract. Many employers are surprised to find that they are not…
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Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
Most employers are familiar with the potential legal exposure to damages that arises from dismissing an employee without cause. The damages are normally quantified by the value of compensation the dismissed employee would have received during the agreed-upon or court-ordered period of reasonable notice. However, most employers would not contemplate the possibility of having to pay the dismissed employee the value of disability benefits he or she would have received under a disability insurance policy until age 65…
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Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
As a Human Resources Generalist or as a manager or department supervisor, this is the time of year that the memo goes around the office: ALL EMPLOYEES PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR VACATION REQUESTS. How you set up your procedures and policies is key to a smooth and organized vacation schedule that balances your employees’ vacation requests and your organizational demands.
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Monday, March 12th, 2012
A wrongful dismissal lawsuit can be a potential nightmare for companies no matter what size. Lawsuits carry with them complex claims that are often convoluted and difficult to understand for the non-legal specialist. This blog post will offer a brief overview of the parameters of some of the damages which can be claimed within the context of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
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Friday, March 2nd, 2012
Every year we get comments from subscribers around the Christmas and Good Friday holidays about why Canada still uses these Christian religious holidays as statutory (public) holidays when they are trying to promote an image of multiculturalism. I am anticipating the same comments as Good Friday approaches…
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012
The recent decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in Szczypiorkowski v. Coast Capital Savings Credit Union is not particularly groundbreaking, but it does affirm a number of important points for employers…
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Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Employers normally have the right to expect that instructions to employees will be faithfully carried out. But what happens when the employer asks that employees do something dodgy or potentially illegal? What would you do when faced with an employer request you felt might not be within the law?
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Monday, February 27th, 2012
The recent firing of Toronto Transit Commission head Gary Webster makes it difficult for the city to claim it is trying to run like a business. Webster, a 37-year TTC employee, was a year away from the end of his contract, and his termination without cause will likely cost the city at least $500,000 in severance pay, not to mention the costs associated with replacing him.
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Friday, February 24th, 2012
I have read several articles in the last week regarding Apple Inc.’s manufacturing in China, through the company Foxconn. Perhaps it is time for us to take a step back and really understand what is going on here, and how this affects us in Canada.
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Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
When an employer seeks to rely on a breach of policy in disciplining an employee, the employer must prove that it clearly communicated the policy to the employee in question and has enforced the policy consistently. The importance of such communication in enforcement of workplace policies was demonstrated in Lambe v. Irving Oil Ltd.
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Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Constructive dismissal, while still a source of concern for employers, is likely less of a threat than it is sometimes thought of. Employees placed in potential constructive dismissal suits must be very careful, or else they may find they have very limited recovery. However, an employer in British Columbia has attempted to push the weaknesses of constructive dismissal to the extreme. In fact it appears to have tried to push the concept farther than it can reasonably bear.
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Friday, February 17th, 2012
All jurisdictions in Canada provide for a number of public (also called statutory or general holidays) holidays each year. Some are common to all jurisdictions; others are specific to individual provinces and territories. This year, Family Day falls on Monday February 20, 2012.
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Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Following the increased occurrence of bullying in schools among Canadian youths aged 11 to 16, and high-profile suicides of young persons due to bullying, several jurisdictions in Canada are in the process of enacting anti-bullying laws. The aim of the laws is…
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Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
The case of Olivares v. Canac Kitchens (another in the long list of wrongful dismissal accounts against Canac Kitchens) arose from the termination of a 24-year employee. The employee was an uneducated shipping supervisor with poor English, who oversaw a team of loaders and coordinators. His salary was approximately $93,000, including overtime pay and benefits. He spent his entire Canadian working life with the company, communicating almost exclusively in Spanish. In May 2008, Canac Kitchens ceased its manufacturing operations and, as a result, Olivares was left looking for work…
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