Case highlights the need for companies to have 'crystal clear' policies in place to manage contractual overtime
A British Columbia court has found an employer liable for more than $45,000 in unpaid overtime pay, plus punitive damages for trying to intimidate the worker with a meritless counterclaim – even though the worker didn’t claim any punitive damages.
The worker was an engineer for Ecora Engineering and Environmental, an engineering consultant company in Kelowna, BC, starting in February 2021. She worked long hours on two big projects in the field, often 12 to 16 hours per day. As such, she was authorized to work overtime, which was built into the contracts Ecora had on the big projects.
Ecora’s overtime policy specified that the worker was to be paid time-and-a-half for the first four hours worked in excess of eight in a day, and double-time for hours over 12 in a day. When overtime hours were approved by a supervisor, they were entered into Ecora’s pay system. Sometimes, the company delayed paying overtime when it experienced cash flow problems.
Engineers in BC are exempt from overtime under employment standards legislation, so the worker’s overtime entitlement would only come from a contractual term, according to Melanie Samuels, pictured, chair of the Employment and Labour Group at Singleton Reynolds in Vancouver.
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