In March, businesses began to experience downtowns as a
result of the economic impacts of COVID-19. As a result, many
employers made the difficult decision to temporarily lay off their
employees. The parameters of temporary layoffs are set out in the
Employment Standards
Act (BC) ("ESA").
An employer is only permitted to temporarily layoff an employee
in the following situations:
(a) The employee's contract
expressly permits it;
(b) The employer is in a business in
which temporary layoffs are a common industry-wide practice; or
(c) The employee agrees to the
temporary layoff.
Under normal circumstances, an employer is permitted to layoff
an employee in one of the above scenarios for no longer than 13
weeks in a consecutive 20 week period. However, on May 4, 2020, the
Employment Standards Act Regulation, B.C. Reg. 396/95 was
amended to extend the temporary layoff provisions due to
COVID-19.
