Labour and Employment Law Blog

On June 23, 2023, amendments to the Competition Act will come into force that criminalize wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements between unaffiliated employers. These changes are intended to prevent employer activities that undermine competition and efficient labour allocation. We discuss the amendments in further detail below.

Prohibition on Wage-Fixing and ...

As we previously reported, the B.C. Government amended the Workers Compensation Act (the “WCA Amendments”) to impose new obligations on B.C. employers in respect of the return of injured workers to their job.

Effective January 1, 2024, B.C. employers will have a statutory obligation to return injured workers to their job. These employers will have a new statutory duty ...

The Pay Transparency Act^[1] (the “Act”) is now law in British Columbia. British Columbia employers should be aware of and take steps to comply with the key requirements that we highlight below.

This legislation was passed relatively quickly, having been proposed in early March 2023 and brought into force on May 11, 2023. No supporting regulations are currently in ...

A recent decision from the Alberta Human Rights Commission serves as a good reminder to employers to keep sufficient notes and document reasons to justify the termination of employment of employees, even in not-for-cause situations. For employees, the same decision serves as notice that the mere fact of having immutable characteristics or belonging to a protected group ...

In British Columbia (Human Rights Tribunal) v. Gibraltar Mines Ltd., 2023 BCCA 168 (“Gibraltar Mines”), the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) recently resolved much of the uncertainty surrounding the test for prima facie family status discrimination in B.C.

A five-judge panel of the BCCA unanimously held that the test for prima facie family status ...

On April 5, 2023, Labour Minister Harry Bains announced that the minimum wage will be increasing in B.C. from $15.65 to $16.75 on June 1, 2023.

The new minimum wage will increase by 6.9%, which is based on B.C.’s average annual inflation rate in 2022.

The 6.9% increase will also apply to wages for residential workers, live-in home support workers and camp leaders. In ...

Generally speaking, when an employee is dismissed without cause, they are entitled to notice or pay in lieu of notice as set out in the British Columbia Employment Standards Act (“ESA”). However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. One such exception is where the employee is offered and refuses reasonable alternative employment by their employer.

Legislative ...

In our earlier blog post, we provided an overview of Bill 2, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Act, which if passed into law, would recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) as a public holiday in British Columbia and would establish it as a statutory holiday under the Employment Standards Act.

As expected, Bill 2 quickly made its way ...

Earlier this week, the BC Government introduced Bill 13 – 2023: the Pay Transparency Act (the “PTA”). We discuss below the changes that have the greatest potential to affect employers.

New Duty to Publish Salary or Wage Information for Publicly Advertised Job Opportunities

The PTA will require employers, unless exempt by regulation, to specify the expected salary ...

The BC Supreme Court recently affirmed the high threshold required of employers when purporting to dismiss an employee for just cause. In Chu v China Southern Airlines Company Limited, 2023 BCSC 21, the court found that the plaintiff employee had been dismissed without cause and awarded $150,000 in aggravated and punitive damages in addition to the 20 months reasonable ...