First Reference Talks

How to craft an enforceable non-solicitation clause

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Generally speaking, a restrictive covenant acts to restrict the activities of a former employee after their employment has ended. They usually come in one of two forms: non-competition clauses and non-solicitation clauses. The law on restrictive covenants is that they are prima facie unenforceable as they are in restraint of trade and therefore against public policy. In order to be enforced, they must be proven by the party that seeks to enforce them to be a reasonable limit on trade.

Tags: British Columbia, Edward Jones v. Mirminachi, employment law, ensure agreement is enforceable, non compete, non-competition, non-solicitation, restrictive covenants
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources | 1 Comment »

And now an update on HST transitions!

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

If you’ve been following the story of Quebec’s efforts to harmonize its sales tax (the QST) with the federal Goods and Services Tax, you probably know that it took a bit longer than expected, besides the 19 previous years of semi-harmonization during which nothing really happened. The federal government and the province originally set a deadline of September 15 to reach a deal, but they subsequently extended the period, and as of Friday, the deed is done—kind of.

Tags: British Columbia, Goods and Services Tax, GST, harmonization, harmonized sales tax, HST, QST, Quebec, Quebec Sales Tax, tax administration
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

Employer had just cause to terminate an employee who worked a second job

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

In some unfortunate cases, Canadians need to work two jobs in order to make ends meet. Well, it seems that sometimes taking a second job may not be a good idea. The British Columbia Provincial Court recently found that an employer could terminate an employee for just cause because that employee had a second job and refused to quit when she was asked.

Tags: allowed to terminate for cause, British Columbia, company guideline, company rules, conflict of interest, disobedience, employment law, just cause, make ends meet, moonlighting, no wrongful dismissal, promotion, second job, second job directly related, solicit customers, soliciting, unrelated jobs, use company time
Posted in Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Human Resources | 5 Comments »

Audit errors at public company lead to substantial fine and other penalties

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

“Never before has it been so challenging to stay current.”

I’m sure that’s a sentiment you can understand; but with respect to accounting, it’s especially crucial.

Tags: accountants, audit error, British Columbia, Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia, procedural breach, Professional Conduct Enquiry Committee, public company audit, reporting failure
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

‘Sexting’ becoming a problem in the workplace

Friday, August 5th, 2011

What prompts a supervisor or worker to send a co-worker inappropriate text messages? In British Columbia, sexually charged messages in the workplace have led to trouble for employers. What do employers need to know so they can avoid being on the hook for sexual harassment?

Tags: anti-discrimination policy, anti-harassment policy, British Columbia, employment law, hostile work environment, human rights tribunal, policies and procedures, policy, sexting, sexual harassment, sexual text messages, terms and conditions of employment, text message, training, workplace free of harassment
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Strengthen personal data security; avoid the Sony experience

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Customers and employees entrust their personal information to businesses on a daily basis and expect that these businesses will treat that information with the care and respect it deserves by implementing the proper safeguards to keep it safe. However, just recently…

Tags: Alberta, British Columbia, class action lawsuit, data breaches, employment law, identity theft, law, lawsuit, Notice, ontario, personal data security, personal information, PlayStation, PlayStation Network, privacy legislation, privacy safeguards, private-sector privacy laws, protect personal information, PSN, Qriocity, Securing Personal Information, Securing Personal Information: A Self-Assessment Tool for Organizations, serious breach of the electronic security, Sony, unauthorized access
Posted in Human Resources, Internal Controls, IT, Privacy and Security, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

Mitigating damages in a time of uncertainty

Friday, February 18th, 2011

The mitigation of damages has become a hot employment law issue. In this recent British Columbia case, the employee was entitled to damages for wrongful dismissal after the employer terminated her during the economic downturn. Although the employer argued that the employee failed to mitigate her damages when she did not accept the employer’s subsequent offer of re-employment, the Court found that the uncertainty of work and payment was such that the employee did not act unreasonably when she declined the job offer. Thus, the employee was entitled to 12 months’ termination notice.

Tags: alternative employment, attempts to find alternate employment, British Columbia, duty to mitigate, economic downturn, employment contract, employment law, Job offer, Mitigating damages, offer of re-employment, termination, termination notice, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Slaw: Employees fired for Facebook comments

Friday, November 12th, 2010

The British Columbia Labour Relations Board recently upheld the firing of two employees by a car dealership over comments they posted on Facebook about their employer. The lawyer for the employer stated that he believes this is the first Facebook firing case to be heard in Canada.

Tags: British Columbia, canadian employment law, Dismissal, employment law, facebook, Facebook firing, firing, Labour Law, Labour Relations Board, social media, Social Network, social networking policy, terminations, union
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | 1 Comment »

Health and safety related criminal charges laid in scaffold deaths

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

The Toronto Star recently reported that Vadim Kazenelson, 35, of Gormley, Joel Swartz, 51, of Toronto, Benny Saigh, 52 of Toronto, and Metron Construction Corporation have each been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and four counts of criminal negligence causing death for workplace fatalities. The charges carry…

Tags: Bill C-45, British Columbia, canadian employment law, criminal charges, criminal code, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, criminal negligence causing death, Due diligence, employment law, occupational health and safety act, ontario, workplace fatalities
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | 3 Comments »

Moving forward on the HST

Monday, October 4th, 2010

We last discussed British Columbia’s and Ontario’s transition to harmonized sales taxes in March, and now they’re here. In fact, as you well know, they’ve been here for more than two months, and not everyone is happy about it. British Columbians in particular are angry, and have called for a referendum on the issue, which will take place next September. Ontarians have once again shown their stoic side as the government tells them what’s best. While many have complained, no one has made a significant attempt to repeal the tax.

Tags: British Columbia, harmonized sales tax, HST, HST implementation, HST review, implementing the HST, Inside Internal Control, not-for-profit organizations, not-for-profit policypro, NPPP, ontario
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls, Not-for-Profit | Make a Comment »

Protection for pregnant women strengthened by Ontario and British Columbia courts

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

In a decision released on July 19, 2010, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario held that an employee who was fired because she was pregnant had been discriminated against on a prohibited ground…

Tags: British Columbia, constructive dismissal, discrimination, discrimination based on sex, Dismissal, human rights code, human rights tribunal, maternity leave, ontario, pregnancy and the workplace, pregnancy leave, prohibited ground of discrimination, repudiation of the employment relationship, small claims court, termination
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Hope for the HST

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Regardless of your opinion about the new Harmonized Sales Taxes in Ontario and British Columbia, they’re here now and they’re probably here to stay—at least for the foreseeable future. So what do you do with that if you’re unhappy about the new taxes? Do you continue to scream and shout? Or do you try and figure out how you can make the most of the situation?

Tags: accounting, British Columbia, business inputs, CGA, GST, harmonized sales tax, HST, ontario, PST, tax
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls | 1 Comment »