Often ignored is the question
of availability of similar employment.
The reason is that it is rare that any sort of objective analysis
of the availability of similar employment placed in front of the judge.
Not exact matches
As always, when dismissing an employee on a «without cause «basis, if you want to avoid a long and expensive court process, offer a reasonable notice period which properly reflects the character
of employment, length
of service, age
of the employee and
availability of other
similar employment.
An employee's entitlement to reasonable notice is dependent on four factors set out by the Ontario courts: (1) age, (2) length
of service, (3) character
of employment and (4)
availability of similar employment.
Considerations include (1) age, (2) length
of service, (3) character
of employment and (4)
availability of similar employment.
and the
availability of similar employment, having regard to their experience, training, and qualifications
The court examined
similar cases with extraordinary long - service
employment records and examined the Bardal factors (the character
of employment; the length
of service; the age
of the employee; the
availability of similar employment having regard to the experience, training and qualifications
of the employee; and any other relevant circumstances).
There is a presumption that an employee terminated without cause is entitled to common law reasonable notice, which is an assessment
of factors such as age, length
of service,
availability of similar employment and character
of position, and can result in a notice period as long as twenty - four (24) months.
availability of similar employment, having regard to the experience, training and qualifications
of the employee.
Since 1960, the traditional Bardal factors, which the courts have used to assess «reasonable notice» include: age, length
of service, position, responsibility
of that position, salary, economic climate and
availability of similar employment.
The four factors (age, length
of service, character
of employment,
availability of similar employment) are now commonly referred to as the «Bardal factors».
Considering the
availability of similar employment, Goudge J.A. wrote at paragraph 22:
Third, the trial judge gives no consideration at all to one
of the Bardal factors, the
availability of similar employment.
This analysis made clear that despite there being only 4 Bardal Factors (age, length
of employment, character
of employment and
availability of similar employment), courts routinely consider additional factors and quite frequently disregard, or at least don't report on, one
of the factors.
The
availability of similar employment does become a key Bardal factor when the dismissed employee will obviously face unique challenges when attempting to find new work.
Bardal factors include, but are not limited to, your age, your level
of expertise, the number
of years you've worked with your employer, and the
availability of similar employment in the current labour market.
With respect to the third issue raised by Wood, the Court found that in finding that the period
of reasonable notice was nine months, the motion judge took into account the well - established factors: the character
of Wood's
employment, her length
of service, her age, and the
availability of similar employment in the light
of her experience, training, and qualifications.
H.C.), at p. 145 established that courts must consider four main factors to determine the applicable notice period for an employee dismissed without cause: (1) character
of employment, (2) length
of service, (3) age
of the employee, and (4)
availability of similar employment having regard to the employee's experience, training, and qualifications (the «Bardal factors»).
For example, length
of service, employee age, position held, and even
availability of similar employment may impact compensation.
On the issue
of mitigation and the
availability of similar employment, Justice Aitken observed that according to the evidence put forward by the Defendant, the information technology industry as a whole was in decline in the months following Mr. Wellman's termination from
employment.
As is often the case in law, what constitutes «reasonable notice» will depend on various factors (known as «Bardal Factors»), such as the character
of employment, length
of service, the age
of the employee, and the
availability of similar job opportunities (market conditions) for an employee with
similar qualifications.