Canadian Employment Law Today

CELT November 13 2013:celt 467.qxd 13-10-25 10:57 AM Page 8 November 13, 2013 Requests for job description and budget went unanswered ...continued from page 1 tion. A former executive at Nissan was brought back to fill Jodoin's old position and Jodoin felt his new position was created to move him and make room for the former executive. The former executive was hired the same day Jodoin was transferred. No defined role, no office Jodoin continued to press for a job description and budget, but none was forthcoming. He presented different budget scenarios, but wasn't told there was any money for his new position. He also was only given one short-term goal of increasing sales in that area by 500 to 700 cars. In mid-February, Jodoin received a "career vision form" that had comparative ratings — the first time he had been given ratings — which he felt were inaccurate and "an insult" to his performance in his previous role. On March 14, 2011, Jodoin filed a claim for constructive dismissal and left Nissan. He saw the move as a demotion and a decrease in responsibility and relevance in the company. The court found that though Jodoin's salary remained the same after he was put in the new role, that was "the only essential element of the contract that was not changed by Nissan." The title of senior manager, VPP was "essentially a hollow term" with no real role, said the court. Though Jodoin's employment contract mentioned the possibility of transfers to other locations, the new position didn't fit within those parameters, said the court. The court found Jodoin was demoted to a lesser position, which was supported by the fact when he left the company, he was replaced by an employee with no sales experience, even though the position was technically a sales position. This employee only worked part-time in the position and spent half of his time doing other things and, when the employee became ill, the position wasn't filled during his absence. The court also found the former Nis- san executive who replaced Jodoin as senior manager, retail sales and sponsorships on the same day had to have been interviewed before he was told. This, combined with the lack of information or long-term goals in the new position and the loss of his office — which wouldn't really happen in a lateral move — would make a reasonable person feel demoted, said the court. "(Jodoin) formerly had a leadership position, a responsible, successful senior manager position, and was demoted to one with no management at all," said the court. "It was a title without a job description, no long-term goals, no budget and no one to manage." Nissan was ordered to compensate Jodoin for lost salary and benefits for the nine months he was out of work after he left Nissan before he found a new job with another automobile company — a total of $102,198.33. CELT For more information see: ■ Jodoin v. Nissan Canada Inc., 2013 CarswellOnt 12416 (Ont. S.C.J.). HR audits never a one-time exercise ...continued from page 7 (assuming they exist) to front-line staff and senior leadership — to determine not only which HR policies your organization maintains, but how they are applied and enforced in practice on an ongoing basis. Many companies, particularly when faced with unfavourable court or tribunal rulings, are stunned to learn that HR policy enforcement is just as important as implementation when a legal challenge arises. Present the audit's findings coherently and develop an action plan. Structuring the audit's findings in a coherent report will help leadership understand the potentially costly areas of HR law or policy exposure across their organization. The exact nature of that structure depends on those key leaders' preferences, but we find that develop- 8 ing HR and law "dashboards" that focus on key metrics — which could include statistics such as employee retention — help focus the ensuing discussions on how to overcome HR shortcomings. Developing an action plan with timelines for key deliverables will help ensure that employment law and HR policy exposure gaps are closed in a timely fashion to limit your organization's liabilities. Now do it again. Thanks to ongoing legislative developments, as well as changes within your organization, audits are never a one-time exercise. A period of rapid growth or high employee turnover, or even an event such as your company's pending sale or merger, could force updates to your HR policy and best practices framework. Plan to conduct an HR audit at least once a year and be ready to act on its findings. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laura Williams Laura Williams is the founder and principal of Williams HR Law, a human resources law firm in Markham, Ont., serving employers exclusively. Laura can be reached at (905) 205-0496 or lwilliams@williamshrlaw.com. MORE CASES To view more cases from the archives, go to www.employmentlaw today.com and click on "Advanced Search." You can search for articles by entering keywords, the department or the article number. CELT Published by Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2013

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