Employment Law for Employers: Announcement of Upcoming Presentations

As part of our ongoing commitment to public education and to assist local businesses in managing HR and employment law related issues, Doak Shirreff is pleased to again offer our Employment Law for Employers Series during the spring and summer of 2014.

In this series of free presentations, employment lawyer David M. Brown will lead conversations on a variety of topics of interest to business owners – from the duty to accommodate, to occupational health and safety, to international recruitment.

Designed to be informal, conversational and educational, these presentations will expose some of the hidden costs eating away at businesses’ bottom line, while helping managers implement strategies to meet HR related challenges.

All presentations are located in the Doak Shirreff Boardroom, 537 Leon Avenue, Kelowna BC.

To ensure an interactive presentation, space is limited to 20 participants for each presentation. For more information on presentations, please consult our Upcoming Presentations page or contact David directly.

We look forward to seeing you.

 

David M. Brown

dbrown@doakshirreff.com

The Law of Healing: Changing Public Perceptions of the Legal Industry

 

When we think of “healing professions” most people naturally think of health care. Doctors, nurses, psychologists… our health care providers are highly trained professionals who closely examine our physical or mental ailments and prescribe a treatment plan to heal and maintain ongoing good health.

Lawyers, on the other hand, are not typically viewed as healers. In fact lawyers generally have a terrible public reputation, and are commonly viewed as manipulative, dishonest, and corrupt. In numerous public surveys, lawyers routinely place near the bottom of Canada’s most trusted professions – alongside politicians, fortune tellers, and taxi drivers.

A Lawyer’s Take on Why We Hate Lawyers

The legal profession’s reputation is unfortunate and unfair, and in my view stems from a number of factors which have nothing to do with the lawyer’s integrity or ability.

Searching for Skeletons in the Closet: The Essentials of an Effective Workplace Investigation

Workplace investigations are becoming increasingly common in businesses of all sizes.  Sometimes, these investigations are required under law (such as in the case of Occupational Health & Safety concerns or a Workers’ Compensation claim).  Other times they are required by contract, as may be the case when dealing with unions.

Even when not legislated, investigations are often a good practice and can shed light on a variety of workplace human resources issues. 

Everything Must Go : Employee Rights in a Corporate Bankruptcy

Lehman Brothers, General Motors, CanWest, Nortel… Large scale corporate bankruptcies certainly grab headlines and send tremors through the economy. However, bankruptcies are not limited to large corporations, and every day, in large cities and in small towns, businesses are unable to meet their obligations to creditors and fail. Often times lost in the headlines or the clearance sales are the implications that bankruptcies have on employees, and the inevitable terminations that flow from corporate collapse.

Severance Calculations Under the Canada Labour Code and BC Employment Standards

A common question that many employees and employers ask is how much severance pay must be paid upon termination in accordance with applicable employment legislation. The answer to this question is going to depend on jurisdiction, which is determined by considering the type of industry the employer was engaged in and what province operations take place in.

Tred Carefully : Terminating Employees on Leave

Questions surrounding human rights, disabilities and the duty to accommodate are rarely simple and often misunderstood. Nowhere is this more evident than the widespread perception among workers and employers alike that employees on some form of leave from work cannot be terminated.  

Closed for the Holidays? Mandatory Vacations and the Duty to Accommodate Religious Observance

Across Canada, it is not uncommon for many small businesses to close their operations for the period between Christmas and New Years. There are many good reasons for this, as business owners may be looking for family time while the kids are out of school, a visit to parents in distant cities, or a winter escape to Mexico.

For the owner/operator, closing a business for a period of time may be as simple as hanging a sign in the door which reads “Closed for the Holidays”. However, for two important reasons, this decision becomes more complicated when a business has employees to consider :

1. Can a business require employees to take their vacations at specific times, such as over the Christmas holidays?
2. If so, does imposing vacation over a Christian holiday, such as Christmas or Easter, have human rights implications for a diverse workforce that does not necessarily follow Western-Christian heritage?

Working with the “Dependent” Independent Contractor

In some circumstances, the line between an independent contractor and an employee can become blurred. As we described in a previous post, in assessing whether a worker is a contractor or actually an employee, we will need to analyse a variety of factors, including the control the employer has over the worker’s activities, whether the worker provides his or her own equipment, the degree of financial risk taken by the worker and whether the worker is able to hire helpers.

“Did He Just Quit?”: The Rules on Resignations

Usually, an employee’s resignation is clear and is not normally subject to interpretation. It can be as simple as “I’ve decided to stay home for the next few years to take care of my family”, or “my spouse has been transferred to Houston, and we’ll be leaving in 2 months”, or simply “this job isn’t working for me”. In situations such as these, the conversation won’t likely leave room for ambiguity, and the resignation will be accepted.

However, sometimes a resignation is not nearly so clear.

Flexibility and Productivity: Is an Averaging Agreement Right for Your Business?

In British Columbia, most full-time jobs are governed by a standard eight hour work day and a 40 hour work week. With some exceptions, when these hours are exceeded, overtime is payable.

For most employers, this arrangement works well. Staff come in to work and leave at roughly the same time every day, and overtime wages can be limited.

However, many employers don’t operate on a typical 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday schedule. They may have staff working nights, traveling, or doing shift work. They may also have specific times of year such as Christmas, tax-time or tourist season where work demands are heightened. In times such as this, BC employers may want to consider averaging agreements.