Foreign Workers' Class Action Suit against a Canadian Restaurant

Have you been hiring foreign workers the past few years or considering doing so now? A suit has been filed against Denny's recently by a group of foreign workers. One worker fired has been compensated, while other aspects of the 10-million class action suit are pending.

As Tom Sanborn wrote for the Tyee, "In Reasons for Determination on a complaint against the company that operates Denny's Restaurants across western Canada, Amanda Clark Welder, delegate for BC's Director of Employment Standards, has ruled that the firm, Northland Properties Corporation, operating as Dencan Restaurants Inc., fired Alberto Sales, a temporary foreign worker from the Philippines, at least in part because he had contacted the Employment Standards Branch.

This ruling follows the ten million dollar class action suit filed recently against the Denny's operators by fifty temporary foreign workers who allege the company did not live up to its legal obligations to them.

The Employment Standards ruling, issued April 29, rejects Denny's claims that Sales had been terminated because of performance issues. It requires the firm to pay Mr. Sales $6,617.06 for wages lost between the time he was fired and the time his temporary work permit would have run out, plus $138.33 in interest.

The ruling held that Denny's had contravened section 83 of the Employment Standards Act, which prohibits punitive firing of workers for making complaints under the act. According Ms. Welder, Denny's management denied that they had broken the law in firing Sales. Speaking to The Tyee in January, Bobby Naicker, Denny's CEO, responded to questions about Sales and the class action suit by saying "We are comfortable we've done the right thing." In March, advocates told The Tyee that Denny's had at least temporarily improved some of its treatment of temporary workers in response to the class action suit.

"Denny's has been found to have engaged in retribution because a temporary foreign worker filed a complaint with the Employment Standards Branch" said Charles Gordon of Fiorillo Glavin Gordon, lawyer for Sales.

Further claims that the temporary foreign workers had been compelled to pay large hiring fees to an agent of Denny's in the Philippines are under ongoing investigation, and the accusation that workers were illegally required to pay for their own airfare to Canada is now part of the class action suit filed in January, and is thus not addressed in the April ruling.)

"Alberto Sales had a contract which clearly provided that Denny's was required to pay his airfare both from and to the Philippines. When he complained that they were not providing that, as well as paying for overtime and raising the issue of agency fees to get the job at Denny's, he was terminated," Gordon said.

Sales has been forced to return to the Philippines, as his work visa required that he continue working for Denny's in order to remain in Canada.

"This further illustrates the vulnerability of workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program," said Gordon."

Proof Restaurants Hit Hard by BC's HST

I came across this news release by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association(CRFA) and felt it warranted reprinting here for your information:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2011

VANCOUVER – Nearly nine in 10 restaurateurs have seen a drop in sales since the introduction of the HST and new drinking-and-driving penalties in British Columbia, according to a province-wide survey by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA).

Overall restaurant sales dropped by an average of 15% in the seven months following the July 2010 introduction of the HST, according to survey respondents. Liquor sales in particular fell by 21% in the four months following the introduction of new blood alcohol content (BAC) regulations in late Sept. 2010.

In the same survey, 68% of B.C. restaurateurs said they will vote against HST as it is currently structured in the upcoming HST referendum.

“For several months these two public policies have stalled any post-recession recovery in British Columbia’s restaurant industry – a recovery that has already taken hold in other provinces,” says Mark von Schellwitz, CRFA Vice President, Western Canada. “The restaurant industry is the fourth-largest private-sector employer in B.C. and contributes to communities all across the province. We urge the government to stop giving British Columbians more reasons to stay home, and work with us to create a better business climate for our members and their customers.”

The CRFA survey finds that:

Nearly nine in 10 (87%) of respondents reported a drop in sales since HST took effect;
The average decrease in sales was 15% between July 2010 and Jan. 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier;
68% of respondents say they will vote against HST as it is currently structured;
88% of licensed restaurant and bar operators said the new .05 drinking and driving penalties resulted in a drop in liquor sales;
Licensees reported an average 21% loss in liquor sales between Oct. 2010 and Jan. 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier;
As a result of the declining sales caused by HST and the new drinking and driving penalties, 72% of respondents said they have cut back on staff hours, 54% are offering more deals and promotions to keep customers, 31% are doing more advertising and marketing, and 20% have reduced their hours of operation.
The CRFA online survey of restaurant owners and operators was conducted between March 23 and March 31, 2011. The findings represent 1,909 B.C. businesses.

Hotel Stats Available Jan/Feb 2011

Just released: Canadian Hotel Stats, PVK Jan/Feb 2011.

In reviewing the hotel room rates and revenues throughout Canada, one thing caught my eye for the first time that makes me wonder, "Am I living in the right province?".....

Revenue Per Room Availalbe 2011:
Atlantic Canada 41.16
Quebec 58.57
Ontario 54.31
Alberta 60.40
Saskatchewan 70.64
BC 52.20
NW Territories 89.14

OK, so Alberta's higher rate is no shocker, nor is the NW Territories, but Saskatchewan??? What's happening in the Prairie's that I don't know about?

Check out the ups and downs of the hotel industry and watch for trends via the PVK reports at the hotelassociation[dot]ca website.