In Beach Place Ventures Ltd. v. Employment Standards Tribunal, 2022 BCCA 147, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld a determination by the Employment Standards Tribunal (Tribunal) that three taxi drivers (Drivers) were employees of Beach Place Ventures Ltd. (Beach Place) and Black Top Cabs Ltd. (Black Top) (collectively, the Companies). At the BCCA, the Companies were appealing the decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (SCBC), which also upheld the Tribunal’s determination. In rendering its decision, the BCCA rejected the notion that a precise legal test should be applied universally to determine whether an individual is an “employee” or an independent contractor for purposes of the province’s Employment Standards Act (ESA). The court decided instead that the central question is whether the person is performing services as a “person in business on his own account” and, to make the determination, a non-exhaustive list of factors should be considered in a contextualized manner.

Background

In 2016 and 2017, the Drivers filed complaints with the Director of Employment Standards (Director) under s. 74 of the ESA arguing that they were employees of the Companies. The Companies operate as follows:

• The taxis are owned and operated by the shareholders of Black Top;
• Black Top is the sole shareholder of Beach Place;
• Beach Place provides administrative, accounting, and dispatch services to the taxis owned by Black Top;
• Taxi owners may lease their taxis to...

Read Full Story: https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/british-columbia-canada...