'This was a situation of their own making,' says tribunal rebuking employer

A British Columbia construction company that laid off an employee and then fired her when she returned from maternity and parental leave has failed on appeal.

The company was looking to overturn a tribunal ruling that it broke employment standards law, despite claims that financial trouble left it no choice.

In a decision dated April 30, 2026, tribunal member Jeremy Bryant of the British Columbia Employment Standards Tribunal dismissed the appeal by P&J Solutions and confirmed an earlier finding that the Burnaby renovation and construction firm had broken the law by failing to give the worker her job back.

Maternity and parental leave

The company had employed Martha Lucia Tovar Castillo as a management consultant and office manager assistant.

She went on maternity and parental leave and while she was away, the employer kept another worker, identified in the decision as “Ms. A.J.,” in what the adjudicator found was essentially the same role. When Castillo's leave ended, the company laid her off and then ended her employment instead of returning her to her position.

An adjudicating delegate of the Director of Employment Standards found the firm had contravened section 54(3) of the Employment Standards Act, which requires employers to return workers to the same or a comparable position after a maternity or parental leave.

The delegate awarded Castillo make-whole compensation and imposed an...

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