If a company offers employment and then rescinds it, is the person an employee entitled to protection from a collective bargaining agreement? The recent case of Gentleman v. Kings (County) before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has an interesting answer. The Court confirmed that since the individual accepted a unionized position, the individual became an employee under the collective agreement even though the individual never worked a single day.

Quick Hits

• The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia confirmed that accepting a unionized position makes an individual an employee under the collective bargaining agreement, even if the employee never worked a single day.
• The court ruled that the plaintiff’s dispute over her rescinded job offer falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of labour arbitration, not the court.
• Employers may want to note that the employment relationship and associated rights under a collective agreement may commence as soon as an offer for a unionized position is accepted.

The Offer and the Withdrawal

Beverly Margaret Gentleman had been offered a full-time permanent position as a planner with the Municipality of the County of Kings, with a start date of January 18, 2023. An email was sent to all municipality staff and the union president, announcing that Ms. Gentleman would be joining the team.

Then, just two days before she was set to begin, the municipality rescinded the offer on January 16, 2023, citing that the “match was not appropriate” due to a “...

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