It is an outcome that is anchored in parliamentary intention, statutory language, arbitral jurisprudence, and labour relations practice. To decide otherwise would fundamentally undermine Parliament’s remedial purpose. - Wilson v Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., 2016 SCC 29 at para 69 Employment … [Read more...]
Working from Home: Income tax issues
UPDATE FROM THE AUTHORS In the November 30, 2020 Economic Statement, the Government announced the following relief for Canadians working from home during the pandemic: To simplify the process for both taxpayers and businesses, the CRA will allow employees working from home in 2020 due to COVID-19 … [Read more...]
Bad Behaviour 5.0: Employees getting away with …
Whitford was not given sufficiently clear and detailed warnings about his misconduct, was mislead [sic] by approvals granting him leave, and was not told that failure to prepare a return-to-work plan could result in his dismissal. Further, he was not caught drinking on the job, other than the one … [Read more...]
The Law of Unpaid Internships in Canada
For well over 100 years, students in industrial-era trade apprenticeships and professions have learned by ‘watching and doing’ under the supervision of the master craftsman. Historically, there was little or no pay or benefits associated with these tutelages. They were viewed as voluntary … [Read more...]
COVID-19: Temporary changes to Alberta’s Employment Standards Code
COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of people’s lives in Alberta, across Canada and around the world. Governments have scrambled to approve stimulus packages, update public health orders, and change laws to respond to this new disease. Alberta declared a public health emergency under the Public … [Read more...]
What to do with Your Conscience at Work?
We hear a lot today about people following their conscience. Conscience is more than mere preferences and choices. It is about one’s values, spiritual worldview and visceral sense of right and wrong. Few employees want to compromise on their deepest conscientious beliefs for their jobs. These … [Read more...]
Opening the Legal Profession: The Andrews case
While legislatures must inevitably draw distinctions among the governed, such distinctions should not bring about or reinforce the disadvantage of certain groups and individuals by denying them the rights freely accorded to others. - Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia, [1989] 1 SCR … [Read more...]
Reading Between the Lines: Implied terms in individual employment contracts
In Canada, every non-unionized employee has a contractual relationship with their employer. What does that contract look like? Employment contracts may be written or oral, or both. When you sign and return a letter offering you a job, the terms of the letter are the written elements of the … [Read more...]
How Earnings Must Be Paid
Introduction In 1981, when I was a student working for the summer in London, England, every two weeks I would walk over to another building and join a queue to collect my pay packet. In the little cardboard pouch, I found a very narrow strip of paper of numbers that explained how my earnings and … [Read more...]
Bad Behaviour 4.0: Employees getting away with . . .
If an employee has been guilty of serious misconduct, habitual neglect of duty, incompetence, or conduct incompatible with his duties, or prejudicial to the employer’s business, or if he has been guilty of willful disobedience to the employer’s orders in a matter of substance, the law recognizes the … [Read more...]
