Posts by David Fairey

David Fairey

About David Fairey

David Fairey is a labour economist, a research associate of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – BC Office, and co-chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition.

New labour legislation to continue gig worker precarity

Feb 1, 2024
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Gig work is widely recognized as having all of the characteristics of precarious employment: typically temporary, part-time or casual, low paid, lacking in predictable work hours and job security without health and welfare benefits and protections.  Research into precarious gig work in BC has revealed that app-based ride-hail and food delivery gig workers are predominantly… View Article

Employment rights justice denied to thousands of BC Workers

Apr 14, 2022
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For decades, the BC Employment Standards Branch has not effectively enforced the Employment Standards Act, meaning thousands of workers are denied their legal rights, a new report that we co-wrote with the BC Employment Standards Coalition shows. Complaints take between 18 months to three years to resolve; the Branch doesn’t proactively investigate employers, industries and… View Article

Legislated Paid Sick Leave – A Historic Moment for Worker Rights

Oct 6, 2021
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The BC government will implement the right for all employees to have a minimum number of employer-paid sick days on January 1, 2022. BC will become just the third province in Canada to do so—and has an opportunity to make history by bringing in the strongest, most well-designed program in the country. Last May, the provincial government established… View Article

New federal sickness benefit falls short

Oct 1, 2020
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Workers in Canada will have access to a federal paid sick leave benefit, but it doesn’t go far enough. The new Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit applies to people unable to work because they have or may have COVID-19 or must self-isolate for reasons related to COVID. It also applies to people undergoing treatments, people with… View Article

Legislated paid sick leave is long overdue

May 4, 2020
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Workers in British Columbia without a union collective agreement have no paid sick leave rights under the Employment Standards Act—the provincial legislation that contains the minimum conditions of employment for all workers, such as minimum wage and statutory holidays with pay. On March 23, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government made two… View Article

Inquiry needed into gig work in BC

Nov 14, 2019
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The BC government recently decided to permit the operation ride-hailing services, which are scheduled to begin before the end of the year. Other services, like the delivery of restaurant meals, use similar systems to dispatch workers. Yet the provincial government has yet to address a crucial element of this system—the rights and protections of workers… View Article

This Labour Day, fruit pickers in BC may have been denied minimum wage

Sep 3, 2019
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While many British Columbians and visitors may have enjoyed late summer produce like apples, peaches and plums this Labour Day weekend, the workers who pick these crops generally do not receive statutory holiday pay and many work for less than minimum wage. The laws that govern conditions for agricultural workers make them vulnerable and exploitable,… View Article