BC tribunal rules that good faith alone won't protect employers from penalties
A Salmon Arm, British Columbia gas station convenience store operating as Circle K has been ordered to pay $17,838.65 covering regular wages, overtime wages, statutory holiday pay, annual vacation pay, and accrued interest, plus $1,500 in administrative penalties owed to a temporary foreign worker, even after the employer voluntarily repaid some of what it owed before the case was decided.
Those orders, first issued in a March 2025 determination, survived an appeal before reaching Employment Standards Tribunal member Robert E. Groves, who in a February 24, 2026, ruling confirmed every order stands, rejecting all grounds of the employer's reconsideration application in a decision that carries clear warnings for Canadian employers about payroll records, wage compliance, and the limits of good-faith gestures.
Anil Khurana, a cashier employed under a temporary foreign worker authorization at the Salmon Arm location, filed two complaints under the Employment Standards Act alleging the employer had failed to pay regular wages, overtime wages, statutory holiday pay, and vacation pay. An investigation followed, resulting in a determination in March 2025 that the employer had contravened the Act, ordering payment of $17,838.65 in wages and related amounts and imposing $1,500 in administrative penalties.
Khurana also alleged the employer had...
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