Surveillance by Union Allowed – Necessary for Investigation of Replacement Worker Violations
By Earl Phillips on August 20th, 2013

Two different panels of the BC Labour Relations Board have made findings in favour of a union’s covert video surveillance at the IKEA store in Richmond, BC. The store has operated behind a picket line since May 13. With over 300 unionized employees on the outside looking in, and only 27 who have decided to cross the ...

Scholarship for Paige Morrow – Pursuing Masters Degree in London
By Earl Phillips on August 19th, 2013

It is with sadness, but a lot of pride, that we announce the departure of our associate Paige Morrow at the end of August. We will miss having Paige as part of our Labour and Employment team, but we are very proud to say she is going to the London School of Economics on a scholarship …

Another Employee Computer Privacy Case – But no clarification of employer rights
By Earl Phillips on August 15th, 2013

The case of R. v. McNeice involves a teacher with pornography on his employer-issued computer. If that sounds familiar, you are probably thinking of R. v. Cole, the Supreme Court of Canada decision we reported on previously. As noted by our colleagues in the Canadian Appeals Monitor blog, the two cases are very similar, but …

WorkSafeBC Announces Increase in Workers’ Compensation Premiums for 2014
By Christopher McHardy on August 9th, 2013

WorkSafeBC recently announced that there will be rate hikes again in 2014. This will mean that most employers in British Columbia can expect to pay higher premium costs for the second year in a row. WorkSafeBC projects that employers will pay an average base premium rate of 4.8% more in 2014. This is close to …

Worker Cannot Sue for Workplace Injury – "Historic trade-off" affirmed
By Earl Phillips on August 6th, 2013

Workers’ rights to sue over workplace accidents are severly restricted by workers compensation schemes across the country. Statutes like the Workers Compensation Act of BC provide workers with access to an insurance scheme that does not depend on finding fault or the ability of the employer to pay for a workplace injury, illness or death. But in exchange, workers …