The Federal Court recently released its decision in Miller
v. Canada (Minister of Labour), upholding a $408,930.63
payment order against the director of a corporation for unpaid
wages. The initial payment order was issued by an inspector under
the Federal Labour Program, on the basis of sections 251.1 and
251.18 of the Canada Labour Code (the "Code").
These sections provide that directors of corporations can be held
liable for up to six months of unpaid employee wages, so long as
the entitlement to wages arose during a director's incumbency
and the recovery of the amount from the corporation is impossible
or unlikely.
This case should serve as a valuable warning to directors of
corporations in several respects. Directors should particularly
note that they can be held personally liable for the unpaid wages
of employees, that they should keep clear records of resignation
from directorship and that limitation periods for the appeal of
payment orders will be strictly
