The 29th Annual BC Labour Law Review (in-person or livestream) (Vancouver)
The 29th Annual BC Labour Law Review (in-person or livestream)
The year's top labour law developments and their impact on BC unions and employers
Vancouver
April 10 & 11, 2024
Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront
Attend this annual conference where BC unions and employers catch up on new developments in labour law and their impact on the unionized workplace
Attend the live conference or order the livestream/binder package
When you register for this conference, you can choose to attend the live conference in person, or watch a livestream of the conference with playback option that includes the virtual binder in PDF format.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10
Registration: 7:30 – 8:30 a.m.
MORNING SESSION (8:30 to 12:00)
Craig Bavis and Maggie Campbell
BC Labour Law Update
A review of new BC labour arbitration awards, human rights decisions and BC Labour Relations Board cases and their impact on BC unions and employers.
AFTERNOON SESSION (1:15 to 4:30)
Lynsey Gaudin and Jessie Sunner
Workplace Defamation: When employers, unions and employees trash each other publicly
- Statements made by employers, unions and employees about each other
- The legal framework adjudicators use in assessing defamation claims
- The appropriate forum – where does the dispute belong?
- The key case law update
Innocent Frustration: Non-culpable endings to the employment relationship
- Frustration for medical/health reasons: What is non-culpable termination?
- Can the exhaustion of LTD/benefit plans lead to employment termination?
- Can the refusal to get vaccinated justify an employee termination?
- The current law on attendance-management policies
- Are deemed-termination clauses allowable?
What an ageism-free workplace looks like
- Human rights and the end of mandatory retirement
- Traps and pitfalls: Common legal mistakes employers make
- Union representation of older workers
- Workplace age ceilings for benefits and pensions: Are they legal?
- Ensuring an age-friendly workplace: Policies and practices that work
THURSDAY, APRIL 11
MORNING SESSION (8:30 to 12:00)
Shirin Kiamanesh and Donovan Plomp
Accommodation Update
A review of important new accommodation cases from across Canada that offer valuable takeaways for unions and employers handling accommodation cases
AFTERNOON SESSION (1:15 to 3:00)
John McConchie (Chair), Susanna Quail and Andrea Zwack
Ask a Labour Lawyer
Union and management counsel answer your questions on labour law issues.
PRESENTERS INCLUDE
Craig Bavis – Union Counsel, Victory Square Law Office
Maggie Campbell – Employer Counsel, Roper Greyell
Lynsey Gaudin – Employer Counsel, MLT Aikins
Shirin Kiamanesh – Union Counsel, Koskie Glavin Gordon
John McConchie – Labour Arbitrator and Mediator, McConchie & Company
Donovan Plomp – Employer Counsel, McCarthy Tetrault
Susanna Quail – Union Counsel, Allevato Quail
Jessie Sunner – Legal Counsel, Hospital Employees' Union
Andrea Zwack – Employer Counsel, Gall Legge Grant Zwack
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
Special guestroom rates starting at $219 (standard, single/double plus taxes) have been arranged for registrants at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront, 1133 W Hastings Street, in downtown Vancouver.
Phone hotel reservation directly at 1-604-689-9211 and ask for the group rate for "The BC Labour Law Review." Reserve early as availability is limited.
The Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront is a unionized hotel.
TUITION
Individual: $795 (plus $39.75 GST = $834.75)
Group (3+ each): $745 (plus $37.25 GST = $782.25)
Super Group (7+ each): $695 (plus $34.75 GST = $729.75)
Mega Group (15+ each): $645 (plus $32.25 = $677.25
To qualify for group rates, individuals must be from the same organization, or union local, AND register together at the same time. Individuals registering separately will not qualify for group rates.
Registration for the live conference includes the two-day conference, the conference binder in PDF format, continental breakfast and refreshments. Accommodations and other meals are not included.
Registration for the livestream with playback option includes the conference binder in PDF format and a link for the livestream of the conference in real time, or a playback of the video at a later date convenient for you.
CANCELLATIONS must be in writing and received by April 3 in order to qualify for a refund. Cancellations after April 3 will not qualify for a refund.
SUBSTITUTIONS may be made at any time.
Tip Of The Day
Employers have to be aware that addiction to tobacco has been determined by labour arbitrators to be a disability, and – where persuasive expert evidence links the addiction to the grievor’s workplace behaviour – it may amount to a compelling justification for an accommodation.
