Edmonton Employment Law

In 2011, the Alberta Court of Appeal decided the case of Globex Foreign Exchange Corporation v. Kelcher , dealing with the enforceability of non-competition agreements under certain circumstances. Two of the defendants, Kelcher and Oliveiro, had entered into these non-comps during the course of their employment relationships, without any 'fresh consideration'.  The third, MacLean, entered into it at the commencement of his employment relationship.  MacLean was wrongfully dismissed; he entered into competition with Globex, and Kelcher and Oliveiro resigned their positions to join him. The absence of fresh consideration made Kelcher's and Oliveiro's agreements unenforceable; this issue has been explored indepth in the Ontario appellate case law, and the majority of the Alberta Court of Appeal decided to follow the Ontario jurisprudence.  (Justice Slatter, in dissent, argued that the Ontario case law gets it wrong.) However, the question of MacLean's agreement wa...

Recently, the UCP released its platform for the upcoming Alberta election . In keeping with the focus of this blog, I would focus on a few specific points dealing with their labour and employment policies, at pages 21 and 22. Leaving aside the promises to 'appoint a panel' to study minimum wage issues - despite also  committing to retain the new minimum wage - some of the commitments call for explanation and additional context. (1) Wage Differentials The 'general' minimum wage of $15/hour is not universal.  It applies to most employees, but there are specific carve-outs in the regulations under the Employment Standards Code - for example, for domestic workers and salespersons. This limited range of differentials sets Alberta apart from other Provinces.  In Ontario, where the general minimum wage is $14/hour, students under 18 years of age are generally  only entitled to $13.15, and servers can be paid as little as $12.20. In British Columbia, too, liquor ...