Temporary changes to the performance of job duties may not amount to constructive dismissal
Taylor Topliss In certain circumstances, an employer may temporarily change how an employee performs the duties of their job and it will not be considered constructive dismissal. In constructive dismissal cases, an employee must prove the employer evinced an intention…
Refusal to comply with face mask policy was repudiation, not constructive dismissal
Taylor Topliss Benke v Loblaw Companies Limited, 2022 ABQB 461 (CanLII) In this case, a grocery store employee, Mr. Benke, refused to comply with a municipal bylaw requiring face masks in public premises and his employer’s policy requiring face masks…
Non-Disparagement Clause Upheld
Taylor Sterzuk Summary Pulver Crawford Munroe LLP recently represented a Municipal Police Board (the “Board) in an arbitration decision which determined that a non-disparaging comments clause in a Settlement Agreement between the Board, a Police Association (the “Union”), and a…
Single-step Union Certification Receives Royal Assent and Comes into Effect
Negina Khalil Bill 10, the Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2022, was introduced by the Government of British Columbia on April 6, 2022. On June 2, 2022, Bill 10 received Royal Assent and is now in effect. As a result,…
BC Hydro’s Mandatory Vaccine Policy was Reasonable, but Threat of Discipline was Not
Taylor Topliss Summary A recent arbitration decision, BC Hydro and Power Authority v International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 258, 2022 CanLII 25764 (BC LA), determined that BC Hydro’s mandatory vaccine policy was reasonable but the threat of discipline against…
B.C. Government Re-Introduces Automatic Union Certification
Negina Khalil On April 6, 2022, the Government of British Columbia introduced Bill 10 to amend the Labour Relations Code (the “Code”). The proposed changes to the Code will re-introduce a single-step certification process which enables unions to be certified,…
The Minimum Wage in British Columbia Will Increase on June 1, 2022
Taylor ToplissThe minimum wage in British Columbia will increase from $15.20 to $15.65 as of June 1, 2022. The BC Provincial Government calculated the increase based on a 2.8% average inflation rate. It appears the current provincial government intends to…
Ontario Labour Relations Board held Union Acted Properly in Representing Unvaccinated Healthcare Employees
Negina Khalil Ontario’s labour legislation, like British Columbia’s, provides an opportunity for union members to bring complaints against their union to the Labour Relations Board asserting that the union did not properly represent their interests. On January 10, 2022, the Ontario…
Surreptitious Recording of a Co-Worker was Just Cause for Dismissal
Taylor Topliss Summary In Shalagin v Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership, 2022 BCSC 112, the BC Supreme Court dismissed an employee’s wrongful dismissal lawsuit on the basis that the employee’s secret recordings of his co-workers was just cause for his termination…
Union Application for Stay of Mandatory Vaccination Policy Denied
Negina Khalil On January 12, 2022, Arbitrator Randall Noonan issued a decision denying an application by the International Association of Professional Firefighters to stay the implementation of a mandatory vaccination policy (the “Policy”) by the City of Richmond (the “Employer”)….