Tag Archives: BC Law Institute

BC Auditor General must conduct performance audit of Employment Standards Branch

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For almost two decades, BC’s Employment Standards Branch has failed to adequately enforce the Employment Standards Act and the Employment Standards Regulation. This week, the BC Employment Standards Coalition called on the BC Auditor General, Carol Bellringer, to conduct an investigation.

In addition, this week the BC Employment Standards Coalition submitted our response to the Minister of Labour’s February 28th Consultation Paper, which also included our separate critique of the BC Law Institute’s December report on the Employment Standards Act.

Individuals can submit their views on modernizing the BC Employment Standards via email (ESAReview@gov.bc.ca)until March 31st. The BCFED has provided a template letter at this link: https://www.workersdeservebetter.ca/employment_standards

PRESS RELEASE: Immediate action needed to reform BC employment standards

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On the heels of Labour Day, the BC Employment Standards Coalition presented a comprehensive submission to the BC Minister of Labour Harry Bains calling for immediate action on a number of pressing employment standards reforms. Please click here for our  press release, and click for our full submission.

Coalition Co-Chair David Fairey was interviewed by the CBC this week about the serious need to strengthen B.C.’s labour laws to protect all workers.

As outlined in our submission, urgent reforms are needed to address the neglect of workers’ rights by the previous Liberal government for 16 years. The most pressing need for employment standards change is in how the Act is enforced. Currently, enforcement is driven by workers’ complaints, but independent reviews of employment standards in BC and Ontario underscore the need for proactive investigation and enforcement, with a significant increase in Branch enforcement staff.

We are concerned that the Minister of Labour will not act on the pressing need for immediate employment standards changes until after he has received the final recommendations of the BC Law Institute’s review of the Employment Standards Act, which is not expected much earlier than the end of 2018.

We invite individuals and organizations to endorse our submission by adding your name to this document. We also invite you to circulate our submission widely.