Employment Law
Terminations - Just Cause
It is an implied term of every employment contract that an employee may be terminated with cause (or just cause). Where an employee is dismissed with cause, there is generally no obligation for the employer to provide reasonable notice or statutory notice under the relevant employment standards legislation.
For an employer to be able to dismiss an employee without providing any notice requires the employee to have done something, either as a single act or omission, or as a series of acts or omissions, that undermines the employment relationship to the point that there is a fundamental breach of the employment contract by the employee.
The employer must prove that it has cause to dismiss an employee, which is often difficult to do. Where cause cannot be proven, the employer will be required to pay damages for wrongful dismissal, and sometimes, additional damages for alleging cause (where none exists).
Whether cause to terminate an employee without notice or pay in lieu thereof exists, is determined objectively, having regard to the particular facts of each case. Factors include: the nature of the conduct complained of; the culture of the workplace, the nature of the employer's business, the position held by the employee.
An employee may be terminated for cause if the employer can prove that the employee was: incompetent; insubordinate; excessively and/or unjustifiably absent; frequently late; intoxicated on the job; stole; engaged in harassment; violent; habitually neglected duties; willfully disobeyed lawful orders of the employer. This is not an exhaustive list of reasons for a cause termination without notice.
An employer may lose the ability to rely on cause to terminate an employee if the employer has condoned the employee's actions or if the employer lacks satisfactory documentation to substantiate its allegations. Employers should be cautious in alleging cause against an employee where the activity complained of may be related to a prohibited ground of discrimination that requires accommodation by the employer, short of undue hardship.
Terminations: Without Cause – See the section under Wrongful Dismissal & Constructive Dismissal