Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) reports that wage settlements in unionized companies this year (January to August 2009) have averaged 2.4 percent. The results are based on 237 agreements covering 632,000 employees. Wage adjustments are averaging 2.5 percent in the public sector and 1.9 percent in the private sector.  See www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/labour_relations/info_analysis.

The spread between public- and private-sector settlements seems to be even larger in the last three reported months, as shown in the following table from HRDC. read more…

By Stephen Acker and Julia Kennedy

Gone are the days when a white-collar job always meant going into the office and occupying a cubicle from 9 to 5. New information technology and network capabilities have made the home office and telecommuting, if not commonplace, at least attainable for many. Employers have realized that they can have access to skilled employees from anywhere on the continent without the headaches of relocation or satisfying immigration laws. While the benefits of remote employment arrangements may be debatable, access to a rare skill set will often outweigh employers’ concerns about supervision.

And so we are in the age of the remote employee.

read more…

A British Columbia Court of Appeal decision has worrisome implications for companies that control elements of the operations of subcontractors or franchisees. Although it was about a franchise situation in B.C., it could have repercussions in other provinces and other business relationships.

What happened
In 2005, there was a robbery of a Petro-Canada service station. The robber got behind the counter and held a worker at knife point. A small swinging door was his only barrier to entry, and he kicked it down.

read more…

It has been just over a year since the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) issued its decision in Keays v. Honda Canada Inc. (Read our analysis of the court’s decision in that case). That decision mandated a change in Canadian courts’ approach to awarding damages in employment cases. Damages for bad faith conduct by the employer (Wallace damages) and punitive damages were to be awarded only in exceptional circumstances.

So just what have Canadian courts been doing since? Has their approach to such damages really changed? A review of the decisions in the past year suggests they have.

read more…

Should employees receive benefits coverage for time off due to cosmetic surgery? At least two Canadian labor arbitrators think so.

In the most recent decision on point, North Bay General Hospital v. Ontario Nurses’ Assn. [2009] OLAA No. 47, 181 LAC (4th) 179 (Stephens), an employee was awarded sick pay coverage for time off while she recovered from cosmetic skin removal surgery.

The employee, a nurse, was left with excess and baggy skin after she lost a “considerable amount of weight.” In order to get rid of the excess skin, the employee decided that she would have it removed.

read more…