BC Labour law

[Pacem]

I know some guys are from BC on this board. Not sure how similiar things are in Alberta. I guess I could go to some OOT Canucks board, but lets face it.... they suck.

Got a question about how much notice "my friend" could give.

If an employee quits
An employee who voluntarily quits his or her employment is not entitled to written notice of termination or compensation for length of service. Final wages, including any outstanding wages such as annual vacation pay, statutory holiday pay and overtime either worked or in a time bank, must be paid to the employee within six days after the employee’s last day of work. The Act does not require the employee to give notice to the employer.

If an employee does give notice, the employer may accept or refuse the notice. If the employer refuses the notice, or terminates the employee during the notice period, the employer must pay compensation equal to the lesser of:

• the remaining amount of notice the employee has given; or
• the employee’s statutory entitlement under the Act

Statutory entitlement as far as I can tell would be in this quote.

Compensation eligibility
An employee who is terminated may be eligible for compensation based on the following formula:

• After three consecutive months of employment – one week’s pay;
• After 12 consecutive months of employment – two weeks’ pay;
• After three consecutive years – three weeks’ pay, plus one week’s pay for each additional year of employment to a maximum of eight weeks.

A week’s pay is calculated by:

• Totalling the employee’s wages, excluding overtime, earned in the last eight weeks in which the employee worked normal or average hours; and
• Dividing the total by eight.

My friend has worked at his current job for 7+ almost 8 years. He's pretty convinced once he gives notice his employer will tell him to #### off and leave. Can you give his employer 7 weeks notice, because that is what he is entitled to?

Quoted parts are from this link...

http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/termination.htm

[A_3]

Yes. Assuming your friend's employment is not governed by any sort of contractual agreement that might limit notice compensation. Typically labour law statutes (though I can't speak specifically to BC) operate as minimum standards. Therefore, contractual agreements cannot fall below the statutory minimum (in this case 3 weeks + 1 week per year), but your friend might be entitled to more as per his contract of employment.

It is also worth your time to confirm that his job is covered by the provincial statute, as labour law statutes are notorious for their exemptions.

Hope that helps.

[Pacem]

There is no contract. I don't see the job title of Pawnbroker as being exempt from labour law statues, but i'll look into that. Thanks for the info.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Pacem

There is no contract. I don't see the job title of Pawnbroker as being exempt from labour law statues, but i'll look into that. Thanks for the info.

There is always an employment contract, whether it is written or not.

In any event, I'm not sure I completely understand the situation. Is your friend hoping to set a sort of trap for his employer (hoping that they will dismiss him without cause) and doesn't want to limit the amount of salary in lieu of notice that he is entitled to (if he gave two weeks of notice, that would presumably limit his damages to two weeks of salary)? If so, that is actually quite clever. However, does your friend already have new employment arranged?