Departure
Fostering Employee Engagement During a Time of Crisis
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many tourism and hospitality employers have suddenly been faced with making tough business and financial decisions in order to comply with government legislated restrictions (e.g. physical distancing measures) as well as maintaining the viability of their business.
COVID-19, Layoffs and Group Terminations
Sometimes fluctuations in your business require temporary reductions in staffing levels. Such reductions may or may not become permanent in nature. Where a layoff involves a number of employees, it may evolve into a group termination. In any event, a keen understanding of the layoff and group termination provisions in the Employment Standards Act is essential to your ability to manage your human resources efficiently.
Changes to Parental, Maternity, and Caregiving Benefits Under EI
Changes to Unpaid Leave Periods in British Columbia Amendments to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) in 2019 and 2020 have introduced new job protected leave periods as set out below. Critical illness or injury leave: Employees may now take unpaid leave to provide care or support to a family member, where they provide a medical certificate.… Continue reading Changes to Parental, Maternity, and Caregiving Benefits Under EI
Statutory Rights Separate From Those in Employment Agreement
Employees are protected by two distinct sorts of rights. The first set is created under employment standards and other legislation (“statutory rights”). Some of the most basic employee entitlements are found in the BC Employment Standards Act (the ESA)
“Tweets Are My Own” – Except When Your Company’s Reputation Is On The Line
Employers can ask workers not to identify themselves as employees on personal social media accounts.
Employee Fiduciary Obligations
A 2013 decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal has confirmed that where an employer gives an employee the responsibility for handling the employer’s money, that employee has fiduciary obligations with respect to those funds. This means that where the employer makes reasonable attempts to calculate the amount of money that went missing, it is up to the employee to prove that the amount is less.
Averaging Agreements
Section 37 of the Employment Standards Act allows employees and employers to agree on work schedules that are irregular and that would otherwise attract overtime. As a tourism employer, you might find that averaging agreements provide a degree of flexibility and related cost savings.
What is Workplace Harassment?
Workplace harassment is very high profile in the news right now, but do you know what it involves?
Discharging An Employee For Innocent Absenteeism
A 2012 decision by the British Columbia Court of Appeal held that an employer’s right to terminate an employee for undue absenteeism will be taken away if the decision to dismiss an employee is influenced, at least in part, by an intent to prevent an entitlement to severance pay. More generally, the Court held that a decision to dismiss an employee for undue absenteeism must not be based upon considerations other than past and projected absenteeism.
Supreme Court of Canada Sets Limits on Employer’s Duty to Accommodate
There is a limit to an employer’s duty to accommodate its disabled employees, the Supreme Court effectively confirmed in Hydro Québec v. Syndicat des employé-e-s de techniques professionnelles et de bureau d’Hydro-Québec, section locale 2000 (SCFP-FTQ), 2008 SCC 43.