When preparing employment agreements or considering applicable rules for topics like overtime pay, vacation pay, or termination pay, the first question is to determine if the workplace or the employees are protected by the Employment Standards Act in BC. This generally involves two different inquiries. First, one must consider whether the business is federally regulated ...
This post is an update to our earlier post in April regarding the creation of the BC Human Rights Commission- check it out here. On August 4, 2020, multiple legislative changes to the Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c 210 (the “Code”), as well as the Human Right’s Commissioner’s Inquiry Regulation received royal assent. These ...
The BC Government’s Bill 23 – 2020: Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2020 received Royal Assent on August 14, 2020. Bill 23 follows changes to the Workers Compensation Act and WorkSafe Policy Manual and Materials in April of this year. Notable changes to the Workers Compensation Act under Bill 23 include: Increasing the maximum wage rate ...
On August 20, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough announced revisions to the CERB and EI programs. Instead of terminating at the end of August as was previously indicated, CERB will be in place until September 27. At this time, those who are eligible will be transitioned to ...
As discussed in our recent blog post on July 22, 2020, the changes proposed to the CEWS have been confirmed. On July 27, 2020 Bill C-20, An Act respecting further COVID-19 measures, received Royal Assent and amended the CEWS. Most notably, Bill C-20 extends the duration of the CEWS until December 19, 2020 and broadens ...
As covered in our blog post on June 26th, the BC government extended the temporary layoff period from 16 weeks to 24 weeks until August 30, 2020 for layoffs caused by COVID-19. As of August 30th, employees who are on a temporary layoff (and are not recalled) will be deemed to have been terminated and ...
On August 12, employment Minister, Carla Qualtrough, promised a seamless transition from CERB to EI by the end of August. The last period of eligibility for CERB ends on September 26. As the current eligibility requirements for EI stand, many recipients of CERB could be left without economic support. The Federal Government has announced that ...
In the recent decision The Employee v The University and another (No.2), 2020 BCHRT 12 the BC Human Rights Tribunal held that an isolated comment may not amount to sexual harassment where there are no objective adverse consequences and remedial steps are taken to mitigate the subjective harm felt by the complainant. FACTS The complainant ...
The recent decision from the BC Human Rights Tribunal Thanh v BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, 2020 BCHRT 15 provides an example of how an employer can establish undue hardship and limit its duty to accommodate an employee’s disability. Facts The complainant was a community coroner on medical leave for PTSD which ...
On July 17 the federal government announced proposed changes to the CEWS to be effective from July 5, 2020. The CEWS was implemented to help protect jobs by helping businesses keep employees on the pay roll. It also encouraged employers to re-hire workers who had been previously laid off. According to the government, since its ...
