Bulletin
BC Hydro & Powertech – Memorandum of Understanding #82 – Overpayment Recovery – Policy Grievance Update
January 21, 2026
To: All MoveUP members at BCH & Powertech
We write to inform you about our policy grievance against the employer’s misuse of the overpayment recovery language in MOU82.
The employer claims it can use this MOU to garnish MoveUP members’ wages when sick leave is paid out but not substantiated with medical notes, or in cases where it alleges members have stolen time.
Although we do not in principle seek to prevent the employer from recovering wages that were paid but not earned, they are prevented by law from doing so unilaterally, without the union’s approval on a case-by-case basis, except through the grievance procedure.
This grievance has been advanced to the arbitration step. We have retained legal counsel and have made a proposal to the employer about which arbitrator should hear it. We are waiting to hear back.
If you have received notice from the employer that they are withholding any portion of your wages as per MOU82, please contact your Job Steward.
Background
According to Section 21 of the Employment Standards Act,
“Except as permitted or required by this Act or any other enactment of British Columbia or Canada, an employer must not, directly or indirectly, withhold, deduct or require payment of all or part of an employee’s wages for any purpose.”
This Section prevents employers from deducting money from employee’s pay without their consent under any circumstances, including when overpayments have been made, except for statutory deductions such as tax and CPP.
This legal protection exists because employers, being in control of their employees’ pay, have an unfair advantage in such disputes. Arbitrators have held that an employer helping itself to wages in this way is an abuse of its role as paymaster. Rather than doing so, it should advance its claim to the wages in the proper forum.
In a non-unionized workplace, an employer seeking to withhold wages without an employee’s consent must pursue their claim in court. In unionized workplaces, unions are authorized to agree to the deduction of wages on behalf of their members. An employer seeking to make deductions must request the agreement of the union and make their case for why it is justified. If the union does not agree, the grievance process including arbitration is available to the employer to resolve the matter.
In 2012, MoveUP and BC Hydro agreed to MOU82, which authorizes the employer to make deductions from wages under narrowly defined circumstances.
Subject to the terms in the MOU, these two circumstances were:
- When payments are made due to error.
- When employees incur personal charges without authorization.
It was understood by the parties that this MOU was to be used to efficiently resolve overpayments caused by minor clerical errors or unauthorized expenditures. The union never authorized the employer to withhold wages to recover money paid out as sick leave which was later deemed unsubstantiated, or for time alleged not to have been worked.
We will provide further updates as this grievance progresses.
In solidarity,
Paul Voykin, Union Representative
Mike Novak, Union Representative
Alina Teymory, Union Representative
Richard Van Grol, Union Representative
Chris Shier, Union Representative