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B.C. trucking company goes after 3 former drivers for 'time theft,' loses every case (bc.ctvnews.ca)

submitted 11 months ago by grte to c/canadalabour

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[–] ImplyingImplications 46 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

The company said that the times between engine start and engine stop constituted a driver's work hours, but that the men had logged on their timesheets that they started working before turning on their trucks and kept working after they turned them off. Thus, they have committed time theft.

"I disagree," Carmody wrote in each of the cases. "A driver's shift does not start when the driver starts the engine, and it does not finish when the driver turns off the engine. The driver must report to the yard, receive and review their delivery assignments, plan their route and conduct a pre-trip inspection."

The men also all recently left the company after their complaints to the province of not being paid overtime went nowhere. They say this lawsuit is retaliation for demanding fair pay. The court couldn't decide on whether or not that was true, but said it wouldn't change the ruling either way.

[–] Rentlar 31 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The employer thinks their employees are trucks, lol.

[–] Kelsenellenelvial 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Sounds like an OHSA violation. Vehicles should be inspected daily before operation. Either they’re not paying for the required inspection or they’re telling the staff not to do that inspection. Either way the company is liable.

I’d also consider that things like locking/securing the vehicle counts as work too. If the shift ends when the engine stops it’s getting left open until the next shift.

[–] Rentlar 2 points 11 months ago

Yeah pre-trip inspections are required in B.C. and Ontario before you move anywhere in a commercial vehicle, so it definitely is a part of the job that needs to be paid for. Work procedures that neglect that should be the companies fault, even if not doing them would be the driver's fault.