Hiring employees, either directly or through employment agencies, must comply with all applicable laws. In British Columbia, the BC Employment Standards Act protects the rights of employees by mandating that employees meet certain minimum standards with respect to terms of employment.

If there is a complaint about corporate behaviour, bullying or any other inappropriate conduct in a workplace, employees can request the matter be investigated. While it's common for most businesses to have some kind of workplace investigation protocols in place, not every business has one.

Terminating employees is rarely a smooth task. Even if every process is followed by the book, there could be anger, resentment and hurt feelings that may cause conflicts in the workplace. Therefore, its important for employers to know their statutory rights and obligations for how to process employee terminations.

When workers in British Columbia lose their jobs, it can be one of the most stressful times that they will ever face. Employment law surrounding workplace dismissals can be complicated, and there may be many questions and concerns these individuals will have as they try to push forward and plan for the future.

Business owners in British Columbia must ensure they follow the required legal steps when hiring new employees. After crafting a job description and placing an advertisement that complies with human rights and employment law, the employer can conduct interviews with applicants and make an employment offer to the successful person.

Employees in British Columbia often have questions about their entitlements if their employment is terminated without cause. The BC Employment Standards Act (the "Act"), which governs the minimum standards for employment, generally requires employers to provide employees who have been terminated without cause with notice of termination or compensation in lieu of notice.

 A fundamental principle of wrongful dismissal damages holds that damages compensate employees just for their actual economic loss. An employee awarded 20 months’ pay after being wrongfully dismissed is only entitled to recover the income they have lost during those 20 months.

When it comes to recruiting sales representatives, it is only natural for a business owner to want the best of the best. In many cases, successful sales reps are noticed because they do such an excellent job for other companies. However, inducing an employee from another business could become costly if not all the intricacies of employment law are considered.

Most employers in British Columbia know that human rights are not earned by employees -- instead, human rights are held by every person from birth. Regardless of an employee's level of education, skills or the position they hold, they have rights to equality, respect, dignity, and a right to not face any form of discrimination.

A 40-year-old marble mason in Vancouver suffered a work-related shoulder injury in 2015 for which WorkSafeBC granted him an award of permanent partial disability. Because his employer had no modified duties for him, he applied for assistance from the WorkSafeBC's vocational rehabilitation services department, which assists in finding alternative employment to accommodate the disabilities of such workers.

An adviser of workplace conduct says the results of a federal survey indicate that a significant percentage of violence or harassment complaints in the workplace are not addressed and resolved.

Employees in British Columbia may be unsure about their rights when it comes to deductions from their salary or wage payments. The BC Employment Standards Act, RSBC 1996, c 113, authorizes some deductions and takes action against employers who make unauthorized deductions.

Business owners in British Columbia will know that there are many intricacies when it comes to the rights of their employees. One issue that often creates tension between management and employees is when employees want to form or join a union and the employer does not approve.

Pay equity, or the equal pay for work of equal value regardless of gender, is a human right. As such, employers have an obligation to ensure that they do not practice gender-based discrimination in their pay schemes.

Although medicinal use of marijuana in British Columbia has been legal for some time, legalization of recreational use of this drug is on the horizon. Employment law will likely undergo some adjustments when the non-medicinal use of cannabis becomes legal.

There are many grey areas when it comes to employees moving from one company to another in British Columbia. While you may be concerned about another company poaching staff who are valuable to your business, it would be naive to expect a former employee to forget everything he or she learned while working for you.

As a business owner in British Columbia, you are obviously aware of the importance of handling investigations of workplace harassment claims appropriately. A flawed investigation can have significantly adverse consequences for an organization.

Employees at the oil and gas operations of Suncor Energy in British Columbia may be interested in the outcome of a legal battle that followed disputes in 2012 between the energy giant and Unifor - the union that represents some of the employees at the company's oil sands sites in another province.

When an employee goes on leave for whatever reason and his or her work ethic has been less than exemplary, an employer can still fire the employee if there is just cause. Many employers are under the impression that they can't dismiss a worker on leave -- whether they're not working due to medical reasons, parental leave or for any other matter.

Employers in British Columbia have an obligation to provide safe workplace environments in which employees can be free of harassment. But what constitutes harassment?