Lawyer Richard Johnson, Contributor.
Sure, it’s almost March, but it’s never too late for a good top ten list, is it?
Actually, we decided to wait until the New Year was well under way to bring you these employee tips so that they didn’t get lost in the social media shuffle.
Without further ado, here are RBJ’s top ten employment law tips for employees in British Columbia:
- You are eligible for statutory holiday pay if you’ve been employed for at least 30 days before the stat holiday, and you have worked and/or earned money for at least 15 of those days.
- You may take up to eight weeks’ unpaid compassionate care leave from your job to care for a family member.
- You may take up to five days unpaid family responsibility leave from work per year to care for a child or immediate family member.
- Under provincial occupational health and safety laws, you have the right to refuse unsafe work.
- If your employer plans to take disciplinary action against you, you’re entitled to know about it and to have an opportunity to respond to any allegations.
- If you are a commissioned employee, you’re entitled to receive minimum wage (currently $10.45 an hour), regardless of your sales.
- If you’re fired without cause, in most cases, your severance payment should include compensation for any lost commissions.
- If your employment continues unchanged after a sale of the business, your new employer is responsible for any severance owed to you when your employment ends.
- If you’re unionized, you are not permitted to sue your employer for wrongful dismissal. Rather, you must follow your collective agreement’s grievance process.
- You are entitled to a reasonable amount of time to get legal advice on an employment contract before you sign it and start work.
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