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Resignation Articles
Anything goes in employment contracts - Beware of dangerous terms
When it comes to employment contracts, all is fair in love and war, as pretty much anything can be incorporated into the deal. Employees should, therefore, beware of the following terms....[read more]
Before you resign from your job
When all else fails, it may be time to resign. But before you take that step, make sure you know exactly what you are walking away from. Recently I was retained by Shauna, who is a business development advisor for a mutual fund company. Almost positive that a pink slip was coming her way, Shauna was inclined to resign before the company could terminate her. By doing so, she thought she could save face. However, when it came to walking away from her job with her self-esteem intact, Shauna was forgetting that she would also likely be walking away from a severance package. ...[read more]
Blunder resignation and pay the price
When Parmjit Gill left the Concord, Ontario offices of A&D Precision Ltd. after a confrontational meeting with his boss, he did not think it was because he had just resigned, but rather, he assumed he had been fired. The court decided otherwise. ...[read more]
Blunder resignation and pay the price - Employee caught in “twilight zone”
When Joan Britton left the Mississauga offices of Partners Graphics after a confrontational meeting with her bosses, she didn’t think it would be her last day of work. Britton hadn’t been formally terminated, and she assumed she hadn’t resigned either. The court decided otherwise....[read more]
Clearing up misconceptions - Mistakes can be avoided
Canadian employers don’t always get to call all the legal shots. Despite workplace laws favouring their legal position, errors made in managing their human resources can put their company’s name on the front page of my next statement of claim. Here are my five favourite employment law mistakes that a company can make, followed in my next column by the top five mistakes employees can make at work....[read more]
Commit business agreements to writing
If you want to ensure that a contract will be enforced later on, commit the terms to writing and give each side an opportunity to review that language before finalizing the deal. ...[read more]
Criticising your boss can be perilous to your job
Overtly criticising your boss can be perilous to your job. While criticism may be reasonably justified or even provoked, employees won’t find favour from the courts where the tone or manner of the criticism becomes disrespectful or otherwise incompatible with continued employment. ...[read more]
Diligent job search can save your case
Succeeding with your termination case takes more than an excellent set of facts, a great lawyer and a little bit of luck on your side. Many good cases go awry because a dismissed employee does not look for another job. The law refers to this principle as mitigation and it requires a dismissed employee to make a diligent search for another similar job. If you do not, the damages you can claim may be substantially reduced. Therefore, I offer the following recommendations for employees to help build their case...[read more]
Drafting employment contracts
Employers often take a kitchen sink approach to drafting employment contracts. They bargain for excessive protection, no matter how junior or administrative the employee. However, in seeking such protection, they sometimes get none at all. ...[read more]
Employees can be sued for wrongful resignation
Employees and employers make all types of wrong assumptions about the law. Seldom do their "perceived" rights exist. Often they rely on rules that have long been rejected by the courts and legal doctrines that are now invalid. Sometimes they are just steered wrong by their lawyers.
...[read more]
Frustration of contract not easily proven
Can an injured employee languishing on medical leave simply be discarded by his employer? According to a recent British Columbia case, absolutely not! When Kashmir Sandhu took time off work to recover from a car accident, he expected to return to his job when his injuries healed. But the problem for Sandhu’s employer, Delta, B.C.-based North Star Mills Ltd., wasn’t allowing Sandhu an extended absence from work – it was whether it would permit him to return. ...[read more]
Laws of resignation may favour employees
Canadian employees have no right to severance pay if voluntarily leaving their job. They may claim this is unfair - but not so fast: the laws of resignation generally work in their favour. ...[read more]
Letters of Reference are an Invaluable Tool
For many of my recently dismissed clients, a good letter of reference is invaluable to finding new employment. In fact, when I represent employees, I customarily request a supportive letter of reference in my initial negotiations with a company and, many times, I take an active part in drafting the reference to my client’s satisfaction....[read more]
Mistake resignation and pay the price
Following a confrontation with another employee, Barry Upcott stormed into the human resources office at work and suddenly proclaimed that he was finished at his job. When he then handed in his keys and swiftly left the premises his employer, Savaria Concord Lifts, believed that Upcott had resigned. ...[read more]
New Year's Resolutions - Don't leave agreements to handshakes or memory
Here is a sampling of some of the most frequently asked questions I received in 2007 – and the advice I provide for employees in 2008....[read more]
Performance Appraisals and Dismissal
Dismissing an underperformer is not an easy task! Court cases clearly state that employers owe a duty to provide employees with the opportunity and means required to improve underperformance, if dismissing them on those grounds. Judges require that employers prove an employee was grossly incompetent, and that progressive warnings were issued, clearly identifying areas of concern....[read more]
Performance Improvement Plans
Sometimes employees too easily confuse who gets to call the legal shots. Believing that their job is an entitlement, some workers try to take the law into their own hands. They are often mistaken. This is the tale of one employee who learned this lesson the hard way....[read more]
Recapping 2009's developments
As we look back on a busy year, we all received some good advice, but often never got around to following it. Since the holidays are a time to reflect, I'm giving you a second chance. Here is some advice for employees in 2010....[read more]
Resignations
When Jantsje Beggs' mobile home was destroyed by a fire, she did not think this would also cost her her job. Beggs had not been formally terminated, and she assumed she had not resigned either. Her employer assumed otherwise. ...[read more]
Resignations not clear cut
After a tumultuous nine-year relationship with his boss, Juan Moreno may have finally had enough of his job. But when he left the Oakville, Ontario offices of Comfact Corporation after another argument, he didn't think it would be his last day of work. Moreno hadn't been formally terminated, and he didn't think he had resigned either. When he was accused of quitting, however, Moreno wasn't about to go quietly. ...[read more]
Resigning from your job
When all else fails, it may be time to resign. But before you take that step, make sure you know exactly what you are walking away from. Recently I was retained by Shauna, who is a business development advisor for a mutual fund company. Almost positive that a pink slip was coming her way, Shauna was inclined to resign before the company could terminate her. By doing so, she thought she could save face. However, when it came to walking away from her job with her self-esteem intact, Shauna was forgetting that she would also likely be walking away from a severance package. ...[read more]
Stating "I quit" doesn't always make it so
Upset after a meeting with her boss, Joey Bru said she was quitting. Believing that she had done just that, Bru's employer replaced her. But, according to a British Columbia judge, even when employees say they are leaving, they may not have actually quit....[read more]
The duty to mitigate: working for my former boss!
Until recently, it was generally proper for an employee to reject returning to the workplace that fired him. However, that all changed when the Supreme Court found that unless there are conditions such as humiliation, embarrassment or hostility, employees would be expected to return to their jobs....[read more]
Voluntary Resignations
Stan Carmichael and Ernie Jakubowski were friends with a common interest - both were Porsche aficionados. When Carmichael found himself without work, Jakubowski, the owner of Mantis Racing Inc., a high-end automotive shop involved in racing events throughout North-America, saw the potential to grow his business.
Over beers and a handshake, the two friends agreed that Carmichael would become Mantis' new General Manager. However, their relationship would soon sour.
Within a year, Carmichael's expenses and outstanding bonuses made him Mantis' second biggest account payable. Wanting to get paid and tired of getting the run-around, he threatened to quit. Jakubowski did not address the threat. ...[read more]
Workplace Changes
This is the cautionary tale of two employees who incorrectly assumed their employers had no right to change the terms of their jobs.
Experiencing an enrolment crisis, Acadia University decided that it had no other choice but to remove oversight of enrolment and admissions from Paula Cook Mackinnon's job. Mackinnon, who had been employed by the university in a senior role for 19 years, disagreed....[read more]
Workplace Law's biggest misconceptions
This is as true at work as it is in life, except that in workplace law there is always an exception. Here is a sampling of some of the questions readers of this column frequently ask and the answers I often provide....[read more]
Workplace Law's misconceptions
Poor performance may be cause for dismissal....[read more]
Wrongful Resignation Can Prove Costly
Few have heard of a lawsuit for wrongful resignation. Once thought to be a remote claim, there are cases that have found their way to the courts in recent years and awakened the prospects of companies looking to recover damages caused by an employee who departs without giving a sufficient warning or even a good bye. ...[read more]
Wrongful Resignation Proves Costly
Have you ever heard of a wrongful resignation? Corey Snider hadn’t — and it cost him to the tune of $10,000. Discontent with criticisms over his work performance, sales representative, Snider decided to take a long walk – He walked right out of the office and never came back. Snider handed in his resignation letter a few days later, thinking he was doing the company a favour by making it official. However, Snider got sued; and at that point, doing favours for the company was the last thing on his mind. ...[read more]