Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com February 15, 2017 CREDIT: BIKERIDERLONDON/SHUTTERSTOCK Dishonesty with employer provides nucleus of cause for dismissal pg. 3 Employee wasn't upfront on security clearance form Husband and wife both discriminated against by employer pg. 4 Accommodation not sought for wife injured at work; husband was fi red for wife's worker's compensation claim ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2 Vacation policy changes: When is advance notice required? Supervisor's aggression towards subordinates justifi es dismissal Correctional offi cer denied yelling or swearing but three workers reported the same behaviour in incident BY JEFFREY R. SMITH THERE IS A FINE line between strong leadership and abuse of authority. A New Brunswick corrections supervisor crossed that line with his aggressive behaviour that served as just cause for his employer to terminate his employment, the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board has ruled. Mike Lewis was a correctional offi cer for the New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety. He was hired in 1991 and moved up to a level with supervisory duties in September 2005. Lewis worked at the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre. Over the course of his tenure at the centre, Lewis took several training courses dealing with topics such as staff development and defensive tactics. He also took courses in verbal confl ict crisis intervention, confl ict New designation brings new duties — and invalidates employment contract A BRITISH COLUMBIA worker's duties changed enough when he received a professional engineering designation that his employment contract — and its termination clause — are no longer enforceable, the B.C. Provincial Court has ruled. Jack Tsai, 30, was hired out of school in 2008 by Atlas Anchor Systems, a company that designs, engineers, supplies, and cer- tifi es exterior building maintenance solu- tions for construction sites and existing buildings, based in Vancouver. His new position was that of engineering assistant at Atlas' head offi ce. Tsai's duties as outlined in his employ- ment contract included going to job sites, writing reports, testing products, attending meetings of the Canadian Standards Asso- ciation (CSA), doing calculations, perform- ing the function of a safety offi cer, making purchase orders, research and development, operating computers and machines, and helping with warehouse inventory control — including driving forklifts. Tsai's employment contract, which he signed before starting work and for which he had a period of time to consider it and seek legal advice, included a termination provi- sion. e provision stipulated that once Tsai completed his probationary period, Atlas could terminate his employment at any time without cause by providing notice or pay in lieu of "as may be required by applicable em- ployment standards legislation." After such a termination, Atlas could have no further obli- gation. Tsai also agreed that he must provide at least four weeks' notice of resignation. Another provision in the contract al- lowed Atlas "the right to make reasonable job changes to your job responsibilities from time to time to accommodate its business needs." Tsai worked in this position until April 2013, when he received his professional engi- OFFICERS on page 6 » CONTRACTS on page 7 »

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