Less-sii

CLERKS, parking lot
attendants, office clean-
:. ing staff and other
-junior-level or less-
_ skilled employees who
have worked for many .
“years at their jobs can
© expect to get signifi-
: cantly miore severance
than in the past.
Rose Byers, 55, was a
“parking ‘lot attendant who'd
worked for the City of Prince
” George for‘almost:15 years
before beirig fired. She
recently persuaded the B.C.
: Court. of Appeal that she was
to cight months’ sev-
four times as.

nuch:as:her employer had ~
fered.” Her case means «

Jncans other ;

led workers get severance boosi

long-term junior-level workers
can now also expect to receive
more moncy if their employ-
ment is terminated.

Byers had a Grade 7 edu-
cation and no formal educa-
tion or training. Her previous

_. Work experience was as 2
-hotel chambermaid. As a full-
‘time parking lot attendant,

she unlocked the doors i in the

parkade cach morning, swept

and cleaned the building,
accepted applications for
monthly parking stalls, helped
customers having difficulty
with the computerized access
nachines, and occasionally
relieved attendants at other
parkades. She earned $23,206
3 year.

Her employer argued
Byers should only get the
minimum severance pay speci-
fied by the provincial
Employment Standards Act.
The Act sets out certain stan-
dards employers must follow,
such as minimum wage, holi-
day and vacation pay, and
overtime requirements.

Tr states that eight weeks
notice or severance pay is
required for cight or more

“ coinpleted years of work for

“BC Gas Utility Ltd.
"1111 West Georgia Street _
Vancouver, Sritish Columbia
Canada. GE 4M4 | : :

és ¢ arged for the natural gas you consume went up substantially.

the same boss.

But the cight weeks’ sever-
ance is only the minimum
required. The Court of
Appeal noted that the amount
of appropriate severance may
indeed be more, depending
on the following four factors:
the job duties and responsibil-
ity involved; the employee’ s
age; the employ ce’s length of
service with the employer;
and the availability of equiva-

dent alternative employment;

The character and respon-
sibility of Byers’ job suggested
that the appropriate severance
should be at the low end of
the scale — perhaps close to

- the statutory minimum of

eight weeks. But her age and
lengthy term of service
weighed in. favour of getting

Wednesday, July 5, 2000 — North Shore News - 29

considerably more.

“The reality of Mrs. Byers’

situation is chat after many
years of working with the
defendant, she finds herself
with a Grade 7 education,
competing with many more

younger and more skilled per-

sons who are likely to be
more energetic as well,” said
the Court of Appeal. “She is
not a good candidate for re-
employment on any view.”
Taking into account all of
the four factors, the court
concluded eight months’ sev-
erance pay was owed. :
Before this case, unskilled:

and junior-level workers only .

tended to get the minimum

severance pay required by the — .

Employment Standards Act.

‘If you're let go, you might

in fesponise to our ‘application, the BC Utilities Commission recently approved new rates
that.will increase residential customers’ annual natural gas bills ‘by 33%, on average.” .

Natural gas.is a commodity that i is bought and sold i inan nopen, market and its trading
ornmodi ties oxchanges along with other commodities such as crud

President & CEO, Bc Gas -

, -home.: And you may ‘be wonderingif if it still is. The insv
Yes Natural | | gas at the new residential rate is still about 23 to 26 percent less

want to make sure you're paid
a reasonable severazce accord-
ing to this latest legal devel-
opment. And if you’re an
employer, consider secking
legal advice before terminat-
ing a person’s employment to
avoid the possibility of being
invoived in a subsequent legal °
dispute.

This column has been writ-
ten with the assistance of Daryl
Collier of the North Vancouver ~
law firm of Ratcliff. -
Company, 988-5201. The col-
umn provides information only. :
and must not be relied on for
legal astvice. . “