Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to labour and employment law in Canada, covering both union and non-union sectors. The course will focus variously on: the principles and practice of the BC Labour Relations Code, the Canada Labour Code, BC Employment Standards Act. BC Human Rights Code, the Workers Compensation Act (WorkSafeBC), and the contested history of labour legislation and related common law.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will offer students an introduction to workplace rights- Canadian labour and employment law. It will cover the law applicable to both the union and non-union sectors and the three regimes of labour and employment law: i) labour relations and collective bargaining; ii) the regulatory and statutory regime; and iii) the common law.

With respect to the union sector, the seminar and readings will primarily cover the British Columbia Labour Relations Code, which regulates approximately 90% of the union employers and employees in the province.  However reference will also be made to the Canada Labour Code which regulates the remaining 10%.  With respect to the non-union sector – the almost 70% of British Columbia employees and their employers not covered by a collective agreement, their relationship is regulated primarily by principles from the common law – that is, largely court made law.

The course will also deal extensively with two vitally important statutes applicable to both the union and non-union sectors - the B.C. Employment Standards Act and the B.C. Human Rights Code.  The course will discuss the three statutory regimes – labour relations, employment standards and human rights – as intersections of workplace rights.

The course time and material will roughly reflect the relative importance of the legal regimes in union/non-union sectors in the province’s economic and political life.  It will provide a brief history of labour and employment law in Canada and in British Columbia.  The course will explore the role of the law or its potential in addressing and/or reflecting social inequality, with a consideration of socio-economic and political contexts.  It will also provide a basis for critically analyzing labour and employment law – which is often described as one of the most overtly politically-influenced branches of the law.

Examples of the specific topics we will discuss include, for the union sector: organizing a union, unfair labour practices by employers and by unions, mediation/arbitration, bargaining in good faith, and strikes/lockouts.

After nearly two decades, the B.C. Government instituted a panel of special advisers to review the BC Labour Relations Code.  The last comprehensive reviews of the Code took place in 1992 and 2003 and the last amendments to the Code were made in 2002. Following a public consultation process, the panel recently provided a report to the Minister of Labour, outlining any recommendations or updates to the Code.  Amendments to the Code were made in the Spring of 2019. In class, we will discuss the review and public consultation process as well as any recommendations made by the panel and the amendments to the Code.

For the non-union sector, we will deal with: who is an employee as opposed to self-employed, an agent, partner, or officeholder; the employee’s obligations to her/his employer; who is an employer; successor employers; the employer’s obligations to the employee; privacy issues in the employment relationship; and employee testing for drugs and alcohol.

While it’s important to bear in mind the different legal sectors – union/non-union, they are not watertight compartments.  Students will find that significant developments in one sector may very quickly acquire similar significance in the other sector and vice versa.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

1. Students will become familiar with all aspects of Canadian and British Columbia labour, employment and human rights law. They will be able to access the many online resources available without charge, including the applicable statutes as well as the decided cases, in both legal regimes.  They will be able to research specific issues and identify the relevant statutes and case law to enable them to answer questions that may arise in their own work life or in their professional life; or enable them to advise others on those issues.

2. Students will also be able to critically analyze the importance and effect of the legislation, as well as decided cases from the Employment Standards Branch, the Courts, labour arbitrators, the BC Human Rights Tribunal and the Labour Relations Board.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: