A recent decision from the BC Supreme Court highlights how a hiatus from working with an employer may impact an employee’s entitlement to notice or pay in lieu thereof upon termination.
Facts
In Shultz v. Prococious Technology Inc., 2022 BCSC 1420, the plaintiff employee had a long-term association with the defendant employer in various capacities, as an independent contractor from 2006 to 2011, and as a technical sales employee from 2011 to February 2018 when she resigned. In April 2019, the employee started to work for the employer as a sales engineer, pursuant to a new written contract. In March 2021, the employee received a promotion to sales manager and signed a new employment contract, which limited her entitlement to notice or pay in lieu thereof to the minimum amounts required by the Employment Standards Act. The new contract did not contain an express term that recognized her previous employment with the employer before 2019.
The employee was terminated without cause in January 2022. She subsequently sued the employer for wrongful dismissal. She sought 14.5 months earnings, arguing that the termination clause was not enforceable and that her previous employment with the company should be included when calculating her length of service. In addition, the employee sought aggravated damages for the manner of her dismissal and compensation for bonuses that she would have been paid.
Decision
At trial, the Court found there was no express term or conduct that recognized...
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