Administration
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.
Marijuana At Work: Six Things Employers Should Know
The Canadian government has legalized marijuana for non-medical use. The rapid and significant changes to the legal status of marijuana raise new questions and challenges for Canadian employers.
Addiction is Not a Blanket Excuse for Misconduct
There can be little doubt that dealing with employees suffering the disease of addiction is a challenge for human resources professionals. That challenge becomes greater when the employee raises the addiction as an excuse for engaging in misconduct.
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.
What is Workplace Harassment?
Workplace harassment is very high profile in the news right now, but do you know what it involves?
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.
Paydays, Payroll Records and Deductions
The Employment Standards Act sets out your obligations with respect to paying your employees and maintaining payroll records. One common area of confusion and dispute concerns an employer’s ability to make deductions from wages. To employees, payday is an important event, and it’s something you should get right – every time.
Is Cybersacking the Way of the Future?
Some time has passed since the story of the “Cybersacked” spa employee made the front page of Kelowna’s Okanagan newspaper. The employee featured was offended to have found out she was fired by reading a message sent by her employer to her Facebook inbox.
A Key Driver of Employee Engagement
Career development is consistently cited by employees as critical to their satisfaction with an organization, and a key reason why they may change jobs. In fact, Hay Group data on the predictors of employee retention indicate it is the most important aspect of a company’s reward program as far as talent retention is concerned. Yet it is an area where many employers do an incredibly poor job.
The Human Rights Code Made Simple
Because the Human Rights Code (HRC) applies to most employers in BC workplaces, you should know your rights and responsibilities — as well as those of your employees.