For years, BC employers reached for the non-compete clause as their default tool to protect the business when a key employee leaves. That era is over. Between recent BC court decisions and a proposed federal ban, non-competition clauses have fallen out of favour, and employers who still rely on them may be holding an unenforceable promise. The better protection for most businesses is usually a narrower tool, a non-solicitation and/or confidentiality clause.

In British Columbia, employers cannot contract out of the minimum standards set by the Employment Standards Act (ESA). If an employment agreement provides less than those minimum protections, the law will not enforce it.

When an employee refuses to follow a workplace policy, many BC employers assume termination is straightforward. It rarely is. The law imposes several requirements before dismissal, and getting it wrong can expose your business to a costly wrongful dismissal claim.

The legal definition of a workplace is intentionally broad and designed to reflect how work is actually performed today, including remote, mobile, and off‑site work.

If one of your employees hired a lawyer and sent you a demand letter or filed a lawsuit while still showing up to work, your instinct might be to terminate immediately. A September 2025 BC Supreme Court decision says that could be a costly mistake.

Many employees assume that if a computer belongs to their employer, everything done on it can be freely monitored. In British Columbia, that is not entirely true. Employers do have monitoring rights, but those rights are limited by privacy law.

Discover why workplace policies in BC are crucial for compliance and avoiding costly penalties. Ensure your BC workplace policies are up to date.

It can be incredibly difficult to terminate an employee for cause. Learn the complexities of employment law and employer rights.

A BC employer's attempt to reduce severance costs backfired spectacularly – costing the company an extra $25,000 in punitive damages plus 18 months of enhanced severance pay.

When a business owner presents a new employment contract to an existing employee – perhaps to add a termination clause or a non-compete provision – a critical legal question arises: what must the employer offer in return to make these new terms enforceable?