‘It needs to become more straightforward for employers, instead of being this mystery, magic formula that they're always chasing’: lawyer explains need for clarity on employment contract termination clauses
Employers may finally be getting solid guidance around termination clause language in employment contracts, with the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision to let the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) intervene in the Baker v. Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc. case.
The court’s allowance of the OCC to weigh in on the decision, which scrutinizes the common “at any time” termination language in employment contracts, points to just how high the stakes have become for employers across Canada when it comes to drafting employment contracts.
The OCC and the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers (CACE) both applied to appear as “friends of the court” for the appeal; as the court explains in its decision: “Although the appeal arises from a private dispute, the issues that are raised transcend the parties’ interests and involve questions of public importance.”
Dan Bokenfohr, employment and labour lawyer at McLennan Ross, explains that although termination clauses that allow employers to end employment “at any time” have been standard in contracts for years, more recent decisions have created a legally fraught landscape for employers.
“The decision under appeal says that that sort of language is impermissible, it...
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