Beth Traynor

It’s not always enough to understand and apply the law as it stands today.  Employers also need to look to the future in order to make good decisions in the present. This is because today’s decision may be scrutinized by a court or tribunal at some point in the future and any transitions in …

Most people (even lawyers!) usually think that reading case law is dry and humourless. But it depends on the judge! There have been several decisions over the last few years that have shown that judges have a sharp wit and a flair for writing! Take a moment to enjoy these. One example is R. …

Employers often tell me they feel like employees have ALL the rights in the employment relationship.  While that isn’t entirely true, I certainly understand why it can seem that way. But here’s some good news – the British Columbia Court of Appeal recently came down solidly on the side of th…

How often have you undertaken a home renovation project yourself? You might have hired out the more skilled aspects – maybe an electrician, a plumber, or a drywall taper (we all know “a guy”, don’t we?). You’re perfectly capable of overseeing the project generally; there’s no need to hire a …

Words are important.  Words like “bullying” and “harassment” are especially important because they refer to improper conduct which can result in negative legal consequences.  But too often, employees don’t understand the legal definition of these words.  Today, I’m particularly annoyed by em…

It turns out CIBC and Scotiabank will be required to defend their overtime policies against class actions by employees, according to the Court of Appeal. The banks had successfully defended certification motions in the lower courts on the grounds that the issues were not “common” enough amon…

Although we often tell clients that determining the reasonable notice period in any given situation is more art than science, one thing we’ve felt confident about is the 24-month cap – unless there are exceptional circumstances, no matter how much seniority an employee has and no matter what…

You may think that the WSIB pays benefits to a worker for traumatic mental stress only in situations where the worker was involved in a situation perceived as or actually life-threatening. And you would have been right until recently, when the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Appeals Tri…

I’ve often said that my job is mostly about people behaving badly at work, so the fact situations underlying the cases I read are often all too human in nature.  Consider the case of Winnie, who was fighting with her common-law husband about money. She wasn’t convinced he was actually paying…