Under recent changes to B.C.’s employment legislation, directors and officers of companies are personally responsible for wages owing by the company, even if the company is in bankruptcy.
Changes to legislation increase directors’ liability
Honest disclosure of assets
Debtors, when subject to examination under oath by creditors, and bankrupts in dealings with their trustee in bankruptcy, have a duty to honestly disclose their assets and in the case of bankrupts, their after acquired property. Two recent cases highlight instances regarding dishonesty by a debtor and a bankrupt.
Another logging company announces cutbacks
Amid continuing weakness in lumber markets, Teal-Jones recently announced a halt in all logging on the B.C. Coast including under a significant timber farm licence in the Fraser Valley and Honeymoon Bay. As the company’s news release acknowledged, this halt “will result in substantial loss of employment for the company’s forestry employees and contractors.
