In this issue:
- Termination Pay Can Include Bonuses
- Clarity Comes to Wage Claims under the Canada Labour Code
- Federal Public Employees Get Provincial WCB and No More
- Random Alcohol & Drug Testing Struck Down, Again
Termination Pay Can Include Bonuses
By: Marie Dupuis
When deciding termination pay, many companies will focus on salary only and ignore other forms of compensation. But according to recent case law in Québec, an employee's pay during the notice of termination period must be comprised of every component of remuneration, including bonuses.
Clarity Comes to Wage Claims under the Canada Labour Code
By: Melanie Polowin
Amendments to the Canada Labour Code provide certainty and restraint to the damages available to employees who file a wage claim under the CLC. Organizations subject to federal regulation of the workplace should be attentive to these changes.
Federal Public Employees Get Provincial WCB and No More
By: P.A. Neena Gupta & Robert E. Salisbury
An injured federal employee in Alberta is entitled to the same workers' compensation as any other person working in Alberta, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has decided in Martin v. Alberta (Workers' Compensation Board), released on March 28, 2014. In the same decision the SCC found that the employer's warning of possible discipline, where an employee fails to carry out a duty, is not so unusual that it should give rise to a compensable stress claim.
Random Alcohol & Drug Testing Struck Down, Again
By: Birch K. Miller & Martha Monterrosa
An Alberta Board of Arbitration has concluded that an employer's random alcohol and drug testing policy does not stand up to the legal test set by the Supreme Court of Canada in last year's Irving decision. This is a significant early use of the Irving decision and provides insight into the problems an employer must face – and prove – before justifying random testing.
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