She won the contractor fight, but lost the overtime battle. Here's why
An Alberta employer tried three different defences to avoid paying an RV park manager thousands in overtime. An appeal tribunal rejected the contractor argument outright, then sided with the employer anyway after the worker's own testimony unraveled her claim of 12-hour days, seven days a week.
In a decision released Aug. 26, 2026, Chair Nancy Schlesinger of the Alberta Employment Standards Appeals Board found that the worker, who managed a small Edson RV park from August 2024 until she resigned in May 2025, was an employee rather than an independent contractor. The employer had appealed an officer's order to pay $3,785.06 in wages, $19,926.84 in overtime, $639.67 in vacation pay and $1,947.14 in general holiday pay. Schlesinger ultimately allowed the appeal on overtime and wages, though vacation pay and general holiday pay remain owing subject to recalculation.
Tribunal finds worker was employee, not contractor
The worker and the park's owner met at a coffee shop in mid-August 2024 to discuss her taking on the manager role. Days later, they signed a handwritten document titled "Terms of Employment" that described her as a "contractor" paid a $3,000 monthly management fee, minus $800 deducted for renting a trailer on site. The owner drafted the document alone, and the worker had no input into its terms.
Schlesinger weighed the relationship against the factors set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in...
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