Articles.
Controlling Controlled Substances in the Workplace
In May of this year, our federal government passed an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to permit adults in B.C. to legally possess – for personal use - small amounts of certain control...
Working From Home – Avoiding the “Family Status” Discrimination Trap
Last time, I wrote about policy and procedure issues arising from the pandemic-driven “working from home” employment scenario. I thought I would take the topic a little further and let you in on a development about which I’ve rec...
Working From Home - The New Reality
Like it or not, employees working remotely - from home - is now a “thing”. The COVID-19 pandemic had many impacts on the business world but perhaps the most enduring will be employees’ desire to ...
Paid Sick Leave in B.C. – The Seasonal Impact
“Is this Smithson guy obsessed with the new ESA paid sick leave rules? Maybe he should find a hobby or take up yoga!” I hear you, and I promise this will be my last bulletin on this topic… for a while, anyway. ...
Paid Sick Leave in B.C. Gets Even Weirder
In a recent article, I addressed the inherent weirdness of the B.C. government’s new paid sick leave rules (a 2021 addition to our Employment Standards Act, where they are referred to as “illness or...
Paid Sick Leave in B.C. – The Devil Is In The Details
I recently discussed the B.C. government’s step of adding an entitlement to paid sick leave to B.C.’s Employment Standards Act (where it’s referred to as “illness or injury leave”)...
Alberta Government Targeting Labour Unions
Do you recall a time when I wrote about something other than COVID-19? Though that may be a faded memory, the time has come once again for me to address labour relations topics beyond the pandemic. ...
Paid Sick Leave Is Here To Stay
The B.C. government has recently taken the rather large step of adding an entitlement to paid sick leave to B.C.’s Employment Standards Act. The leave, up to 5 days annually, becomes effective on Ja...
My Frustration, Your Frustration
When the COVID-19 pandemic rolled across North America last March, employment lawyers started to talk about the legal concept of “frustration of contract”. It seemed like one of the more likely defence...