Problem:
Provincial labour legislation sets out the powers of arbitrators and arbitration panels. For example, they have the ability to subpoena witnesses, call evidence, and order a remedy in a number of areas. An arbitrator can order that the party in breach of the collective agreement pay compensation to the aggrieved party in order to make them "whole." For example, suppose that an employee has been unjustly terminated and has been off work for two months. The arbitrator can order that the employer pay the employee for the two months of back wages and benefits.
However, in BC, arbitrators do not have the ability to award punitive damages (over and above the amount of compensation needed to put the aggrieved person in the position as if the collective agreement had not been breached). In a 500-word paragraph, consider both the pros and cons of an arbitrator having the ability to award extra damages (i.e., damages to "teach the employer a lesson"). Do you think that an arbitrator should be able to award these types of damages?