(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

A BC waterpark that hired "managers" but only paid them two to three dollars more than the minimum wage, has lost an appeal after the company was fined for not paying overtime.

According to a July 12 Employment Standards Tribunal decision, Cultus Lake Waterpark was ordered to pay $3,715 in unpaid overtime pay to 10 workers and fined $500.

However, Cultus Lake Waterpark owner Andrew Steunenberg, who also owns Splashdown Vernon with his brother Chris, appealed the ruling.

While the original ruling involved 10 staff members, the appeal focused on just three employees who collectively were awarded $2,500 in unpaid overtime.

In the appeal, Steunenberg argued these three workers had held the job title of "supervisor" and were "managers."

Under BC labour law, managers do not have to be paid overtime and Steunenberg argued as these three members of staff were "managers" the company shouldn't have to pay them the unpaid overtime.

The waterpark argued that when the three were initially hired, they were told they were managers and signed contracts acknowledging they would not be entitled to any overtime pay.

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However, the Employment Standards Tribunal didn't see it like that.

The decision says one of the three workers held a position as a "supervisor" and the other two "crew trainers."

They were paid between $17.20 and $18.20 per hour – the minimum wage in 2021 when this took place was $15.20.

The Tribunal found their responsibilities fell far outside of the realm of "manager" and while they had some authority to "supervise" and "direct", that didn't make them managers.

"In reality, it appears supervisors 'supervised' and 'directed,' only subject to the approval of a higher authority," the decision reads. "Supervisors were not party to the making of key decisions relating to the pricing and selection of products sold. Supervisors did not have the authority to act without first obtaining management’s approval, and they appear to have had little room to exercise independent judgment."

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The Tribunal said that "supervisors" also had to do a lot of non-supervisory work.

"Such as cooking pizzas, slicing onions, cleaning onion and tomato slicers, running the laundry, opening and closing the shutters, checking vending machines for signs of vandalism, restocking vending machines, taking empty bottles and cans to the bottle depot, and counting, rotating and stocking supplies."

Duties that fell well outside the scope of "manager."

In the appeal, Steunenberg argued the Tribunal had misinterpreted the legal definition of "manager."

He argued the three staffers' principal responsibility was to direct and supervise other staff, hence the term "manager."

The Tribunal didn't agree.

"They did not have hiring/firing authority, no authority over employee discipline, and had no control over product pricing or selection," the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal ruled regardless of the company calling them "managers" their primary focus was "non-supervisory" tasks, such as food preparation, cooking, and servicing vending machines, and therefore they were not "managers" and owed overtime pay.

Ultimately, the Tribunal dismissed the waterpark's appeal leaving them to pay $2,500 in unpaid wages.

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The decision doesn't go into details about the seven other workers whose overtime pay the company wasn't appealing. The decision says they held positions from "parking lot attendant" to "food services attendant" and it's unclear why they weren't paid overtime in the first place.

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