In this issue - #137 July 30, 2010

Pushor Mitchell is pleased to welcome Greg Pratch to the firm and to Kelowna. Greg practices exclusively in the area of civil litigation with a particular emphasis on personal injury matters, corporate/commercial disputes and wills and estate disputes.

Employees sometimes feel an uncontrollable urge to speak frankly about their feelings for their employer.  If they do this in any kind of a public forum, they may be talking their way out of a job.

There are many different forms of commercial leases that are used in the business community.  One of the most common forms is called a “triple net lease” or “net, net, net”.  A triple net lease generally means that the Tenant will be responsible for paying some amount of fixed rent plus an additional amount to cover expenses incurred by the Landlord including maintenance costs, insurance covering the building, taxes, utilities, and other similar out of pocket expenses the Landlord pays for the property.  Additional amounts can be included in the definition of triple net expenses, often called “operating costs”, including depreciation of the building occupied by the Tenant as well as management fees.

Our common law of wrongful dismissal establishes most employees’ entitlement to notice of termination (or pay in lieu) based, primarily, on the employee’s tenure.  What some employers don’t know is that a court may regard that tenure as continuous through one or more breaks in service.

On July 19, 2010, the provincial government of British Columbia released the White Paper on Family Relations Act Reform: Proposals for a new Family Law Act.