Directors invoke a wage deferral defence, but the unpaid wages bill still stands
Two company directors remain personally liable for a senior executive's unpaid wages years after leaving the boardroom, a British Columbia tribunal has ruled, rejecting their claim that a disputed wage-deferral arrangement should erase the debt.
In a decision dated July 2, 2026, Employment Standards Tribunal member Kenneth Wm. Thornicroft dismissed appeals from two former directors of Orchard Technology Inc., upholding orders that each pay $25,716.71 to cover wages the company's senior executive earned but was never paid in November 2022.
A determination issued against Orchard Technology Inc. in May 2025 ordered the company to pay $631,296.63 in unpaid wages and interest to two employees, one of them the executive whose unpaid salary is now at issue in this appeal. Her portion came to $464,545.06.
Orchard Technology never appealed, and the full amount stayed outstanding. Under British Columbia's Employment Standards Act, a director or officer holding that role when wages were earned, or should have been paid, can be liable for up to two months of unpaid wages. Relying on that provision, the delegate issued fresh determinations on July 18, 2025, ordering each director to pay $25,716.71 for the executive's unpaid November 2022 salary of $25,000, plus interest.
Both directors sat on the board between November 2 and December 15, 2022, according to corporate...
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