LAW 529 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: The Globe And Mail, Summary Judgment, Wrongful Dismissal
17 Dec 2019
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Common law regime: termination of employment contract (part a) Judges consider employee vulnerability when interpreting employment contracts. Canada has held in many cases (see box 11. 1 in your textbook) that work is essential to one"s identity, self-esteem, and well-being. It is also fundamental in financially supporting the employee and his or her family, and in various ways shapes and determines his or her role in society. Termination is clearly the most vulnerable time of employment. The rules governing termination have therefore been developed with consideration of the inherent vulnerability of the employees. Generally, employees have a right to notice upon termination. This right is forfeited in fixed-term and fixed-task contracts. The rationale is that the employee knows when the contract ends as it is clearly stipulated in a fixed-term or a fixed-task contract. However, courts demand clear evidence that both parties intended this result.
