On 28 March 2025, the Labour Court delivered its decision in Makombe v Cape Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. The court held that the claimant pastor was constructively dismissed – even though she resigned of her own accord. The judgment confirms that an employer can be held liable not only for direct mistreatment, but
In order to meet their organizational needs, employers may need to relocate their employees’ workplace. However, relocating employees can be risky business for employers.
The place of work is an important part of an employee’s working conditions. When employers make substantial changes to their employees’ working conditions, said employees can potentially claim that their original
Constructive dismissal occurs when an employer substantially alters, without the employee’s consent, an essential term of the employee’s contract of employment. This can give rise to litigation and financial liability for an employer. However, for a unilateral change by an employer to constitute constructive dismissal, the change must be a fundamental one going to the
On November 30th, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Green v. Donahoe, 760 F.3d 1135, 1137 (10th Cir. 2014) regarding the timeliness of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEO”) complaint alleging constructive discharge under Title VII. Currently five circuits have held that the filing period begins when
Probationary periods serve an important role in ensuring that employers hire the right person for the job, but what are an employer’s legal obligations when terminating a probationary employee? Specifically, if an employer ultimately decides to terminate a probationary employee, is that employee entitled to reasonable notice of his or her dismissal? Unfortunately, there is
A decision released last week from the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “Board”) has re-emphasized the high threshold required to find that the conduct of an employer amounts to constructive dismissal. In the decision of Julie C. Malboeuf v. PR Dental Facility Ltd., Julie Malboeuf brought an application under the Employment
The legal context
Under French employment law, employers are under a strict duty of care which requires them to ensure the protection of their employees’ health and safety (duty of care), the mere breach of such obligation will trigger their liability even if there is no fault on their part. Such duty of care is
In the recent case of Penteliuk v CIBC World Markets Inc, the Ontario Superior Court held that an employee whose promised promotion was taking longer than expected was not constructively dismissed.
The Plaintiff was employed as a Managing Director at a large financial institution. In February of 2004, the Plaintiff turned down a lucrative
This post was contributed by Kris Israel, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP (Calgary)
When severing the employment relationship without just cause, an employer is faced with a choice. Should the employee be terminated effective immediately with pay in lieu of notice or, alternatively, would it be beneficial to instead provide working notice? The
Disputes relating to the existence of a dismissal are no longer considered to be jurisdictional disputes. As a result, the review of such rulings will be limited to those that are rulings that no reasonable commissioner could make.
When a jurisdictional ruling is taken on review, the approach adopted by the Labour Court to date