Smithson Employment Law

Smithson Employment Law Smithson Employment Law is a boutique law firm offering comprehensive advice and services in all areas of labour and employment law.

Smithson Employment Law (www.smithsonlaw.ca) offers comprehensive advice and services in all areas of labour and employment law. With more than 15 years experience serving clients across British Columbia, lawyer Robert Smithson knows the ins and outs of working for a living, and can offer creative solutions to legal problems that arise in the workplace. Robert's blog, You Work here, offers practical tips and timely information for employers and employees alike.

Who is the happiest person in the NHL about Connor McDavid taking a BIG salary discount to stay in Edmonton? Gary Bettm...
10/08/2025

Who is the happiest person in the NHL about Connor McDavid taking a BIG salary discount to stay in Edmonton? Gary Bettman, that’s who. Find out why, here…

In the last few days, there has been much reaction to Edmonton Oilers star, Connor McDavid, having signed a two-year contract extension for $12.5 million per season.  That’s a lot of money, but CMcD arguably left as much as $7.5 million pe

The COVID-19 pandemic may have started over 5 years ago, but court decisions relating to employers’ reaction to it are s...
08/14/2025

The COVID-19 pandemic may have started over 5 years ago, but court decisions relating to employers’ reaction to it are still being released. See my bulletin relating to one employer’s COVID-related safety policy, here…

The COVID-19 pandemic, commencing as it did over 5 years ago, now seems like a distant, hazy, surreal memory.  Readers of legal articles will recall employment lawyers saying, back then, that it would take time for related claims to work their w

The time has come (more quickly than some of us might have imagined!) to implement an A.I. policy… here are some core pr...
07/25/2025

The time has come (more quickly than some of us might have imagined!) to implement an A.I. policy… here are some core principles to guide you in creating that policy.

If we could turn back the clock 20 or 30 years, I don’t think you’d have believed me if I’d told you that, in the not-too-distant future, your organization will need a policy addressing employees’ use of artificial intelligenc

A recent B.C. Court of Appeal decision serves as a reminder of the costs of terminating recently-hired employees - espec...
07/15/2025

A recent B.C. Court of Appeal decision serves as a reminder of the costs of terminating recently-hired employees - especially if they were induced to accept employment in the first place – and of the value of employment agreements. Read my bulletin on this topic, here…

Some years back, I published an article (“Short Service, Lengthy Notice”, https://bit.ly/4luvc8c) which addressed the commonly held misperception among employers about the amount of “reasonable working notice” owed to short-se

If your summer reading list is seeming a little thin, here’s the perfect thing to bring you up to date on the subject - ...
06/17/2025

If your summer reading list is seeming a little thin, here’s the perfect thing to bring you up to date on the subject - in B.C. - of demanding a doctor’s note from absent employees…

My recent article - “Will B.C. Soon Be Saying R.I.P. to the Doctor’s Note?”, https://bit.ly/4jTjfY4 - predicted that our provincial government would amend the Employment Standards Act (ESA) to ban employers requiring a note to

If you’ve ever had an employee ask you to lay him/her off, you may want to read this new article.
03/20/2025

If you’ve ever had an employee ask you to lay him/her off, you may want to read this new article.

I have (as have, I imagine, all employment lawyers) been asked by employer clients over the years, “If an employee requests a layoff, does it still count as a layoff?”  My answer has always been, “A layoff is a layoff is a layo

A recent Ontario court decision has pushed the legal status of volunteers farther down the path towards that of employee...
02/03/2025

A recent Ontario court decision has pushed the legal status of volunteers farther down the path towards that of employees… and not in a good way. See my article at…

Like most employment lawyers, I have numerous charitable organizations as clients.  As well as having paid employees, such organizations rely heavily on volunteers to advance their worthy objectives in the community. They also depend on the f

Would you like to know how to properly make an offer of employment (and avoid being sued for wrongful dismissal)?
10/31/2024

Would you like to know how to properly make an offer of employment (and avoid being sued for wrongful dismissal)?

I’m a big fan of doing less whenever possible.  In the legal context, that can be a winning strategy in certain situations; one of those is the hiring of employees. Many employers are in the habit of using a two-step approach to advanci

B.C.’s Court of Appeal has resolved – for now – an enduring legal debate relating to employment agreements.
08/08/2024

B.C.’s Court of Appeal has resolved – for now – an enduring legal debate relating to employment agreements.

For as long as I’ve been practicing employment law, my #1 piece of advice to employers has been, “Use proper employment agreements”.  It’s simple advice which, sadly, still has not penetrated much of the employer communit

More changes are likely coming to B.C. Workplaces...
06/21/2024

More changes are likely coming to B.C. Workplaces...

Recent media reports indicate that, as part of a suite of changes intended to free up doctors’ time, Ontario employers will no longer be permitted to demand a doctor’s note to substantiate an employee’s use of statutory sick days.&n

Have you ever wondered what “crossing the line” means in relation to your communications with opposing lawyers?
01/12/2024

Have you ever wondered what “crossing the line” means in relation to your communications with opposing lawyers?

              “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”                                     &n

Paid sick leave has arrived in B.C., and it's likely here to stay.
12/20/2021

Paid sick leave has arrived in B.C., and it's likely here to stay.

The B.C. government has recently taken the rather large step of adding an entitlement to paid sick leave to B.C.’s Employment Standards Act.  The leave, up to 5 days annually, becomes effective on January 1, 2022, and applies only to provi

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