‘Employer’s breach of contract shouldn’t be subsidized’ by CERB: Lawyer’s Daily

A B.C Court of Appeal in a landmark decision has stated that CERB benefits should not be deducted from damages awards.

This decision was released after a previous court concluded that in the case of Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd, $10,000 would be deducted from the damages Yates received from her employer.

What will this recent appeal decision mean for other employees currently awaiting severance packages from their employers?

A Vancouver employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, who represented Yates, offered further insight on the situation with The Lawyer’s Daily.

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• How employment contracts work in B.C.

“This is ultimately between the employee and the government, and the government will either require repayment or it won’t,” the lawyer stated. “But either way, the employer will always have to be on the hook for what it should have paid at the outset at the time of termination and the benefits shouldn’t supplement a breach.”

The lawyer went on to explain that the ruling also spoke to a vital issue that could affect future negotiations between employers and employees regarding settlements.

“The appellate court could have decided that it would just comment solely on this particular set of facts and not make a grand pronouncement on the deductibility of CERB. It could have just found that it shouldn’t have been deducted in Mrs. Yates’ case,” they said.

“But Chief Justice Bauman did decide to make comments on social policies, so I think it will be really helpful, not just for government programs but for employees in the future.”

The lawyer went on to reiterate that this case and its ruling offer employers an incentive to examine their current policies.

“Sometimes, a court is going to make a determination based on overall conceptions of fairness and justice versus following the strictest letter of the law, especially as employment decisions continue to roll out in the context of COVID.”