Employee Rights during the COVID-19 Pandemic
he COVID-19 pandemic has thrust all of Canadian society into upheaval, and it is particularly a difficult time for Canadian employees who are…
Don’t Badmouth Your Employer or Former Employer!
Joe, an employee at ABC Corp., is dismissed from his job. He goes home, and before he has had a chance to consult…
Dunbar v Northern Air: Case Comment
Dunbar v Northern Air, 2019 ABPC 179 is a recent case of the Alberta Provincial Court. I write this case comment because this…
An Employee’s Conduct After Termination Can Come Back to Haunt Them
In the context of termination of employment, our Courts have found that conduct that occurs even after an employee is terminated can affect whether an employer…
Limitation Clauses – Keep Your Contract!
Employees, particularly younger employees entering the workforce for the first time, will occasionally fail to thoroughly review or negotiate the terms of their…
Random Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace
Understand Your Rights Many employees, especially those who occupy “safety-sensitive” positions (where employees have their own safety and others’ in their hands), will…
Mental Disability: To Disclose, or Not to Disclose – That is the Question
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Prince Hamlet utters the famous phrase “to be, or not to be, that is the question.” In this soliloquy,…
Never Resign!
Okay, if you wish to move to a new position, you have already lined up a new job, and you wish to give…
The Power of a Paper Trail
Many employees have seen how employers create their own paper trail: whether in the form of a lengthy employee file or simply a…
Family Status Discrimination in Alberta
One of the most underdeveloped areas of human rights law is the protection of discrimination on the basis of family status. Protection against…
Sexual Harassment and #MeToo in the Workplace
Under the common law, each employee is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. Canadian courts have concluded that…
Insubordination and Just Cause
In Beaudoin v Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, 2018 ABQB 627 (“Beaudoin”), the employer Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (“AFSC”) dismissed the Plaintiff, Ms. Sandra…
Alberta Court Issues Stern Rebuke of Unfair Employer Conduct
The recent Alberta case Jonasson v Nexen, 2018 ABQB 598 (“Jonasson”) is a recent step in the direction of employee rights in Alberta, because it…
My Manager is Changing my Position and my Pay; Is this a Constructive Dismissal?
Employees often wonder if there is anything they can do when they are told by their manager or boss that their job title…
Signed a Release? You May Still Have a Claim
For many, the termination of their employment comes as a shock. People often invest years of their lives into the jobs they perform…
New Saskatchewan Identity Rights
We are pleased to announce and celebrate the decision today of Justice Krogan of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan. This decision,…
New Just Cause Case: A Lesson For Employers and an Opportunity for Employees
The recent Alberta case Lalonde v Sena Solid Waste Holdings Inc., 2017 ABQB 374 will likely serve as a reminder to employers that alleging…
Bad News for Employers: Bonuses Getting Harder to Withhold After Terminating Employment
It is now well established in Canada that when an employer terminates the employment of an employee without just cause, it must pay…
Social media and the workplace: Employers should “read the writing on the [facebook] wall”
Last month, a former colleague and I recently won an important decision in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. To my knowledge, this is the first…
Independent Contractor Agreements in the wake of Bhasin v. Hrynew
What many are calling a ground-breaking decision on contract law came down from the Supreme Court last week; although the decision applies to all commercial dealings, the decision…
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