Calgary Real Estate, Wills and Estates, and Business Law Blog

The challenges faced by businesses and their employees often vary depending on industry and location. In Alberta, human rights concerns about farm labour have led to recent changes to employment standards legislation. This means that farm owners will have more employment laws to consider when managing waged, non-family employees.

The legislation designed to address these human rights concerns was enacted on Jan. 1, 2018. It is called the Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act, and entitles all Alberta farm employees to general holiday pay and vacation pay. Employees who work their scheduled shifts before and after the general holiday or who work on the holiday itself if required are eligible for this pay.

As the provinces prepare for marijuana legalization, Ottawa is discussing some of the finer points of how worker rights relate to the drug. There are many human rights concerns in the workplace related to pot, including whether workplaces will be able to test for the substance and if the law will distinguish between medical and recreational marijuana in the case of worker rights. The conversation in Ottawa is currently deadlocked, while an Alberta case about workplace testing prepares to enter the Supreme Court.

The Alberta case arose out of human rights concerns from employees at Suncor, where random drug testing was enforced. The federal government is expected to await the final results of the case before making a determination on testing for the rest of the country. Committee members tasked with making a decision on workplace safety legislation say that federal regulations likely won't be in place before the drug is legal.

Business disputes can often end in the courtroom, but a recent story shows these conflicts don't always just involve private enterprises. Two airlines in Alberta have recently filed a lawsuit against Alberta Health Services, alleging that they picked the airline for air ambulance operators in an unfair way. The civil litigation will center on the Request For Proposals (RFP) and decision-making processes that Alberta Health Services (AHS) underwent to choose an airline.

The issue began when AHS requested proposals for the contract at 10 locations in Alberta. Can-West Corporate Air Charters were awarded the contracts for eight locations last March. However, before that happened, AHS contacted two other companies to extend their contracts in those locations as Can-West did not have the infrastructure to take over on the scheduled date.

It may seem unnecessary for risk managers to keep papers on expired insurance policies around. However, Alberta risk managers may find these documents useful. If an allegation about harassment that occurred a long time ago emerges, having proof of liability coverage from that time could prove helpful.

Allegations of harassment can sometimes come out months, years or even decades after an incident occurred. Depending on the type of coverage an organization had at the time and the proof it has of holding such a policy, an insurance company may be required to pay for legal expenses related to a harassment lawsuit. In a 2006 decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, it was noted that if an organization had an occurrence-based policy with an occurrence-based extension, its insurance company could be required to cover such incidents.