Week 2 Reading Comprehension Questions
Week 2 Reading Comprehension Questions
Question 1
Describe the circumstances when an employee may be terminated without
reasonable notice, for having provided inaccurate information on a job application
form or during an interview.
Question 2
Employers have a basic obligation to ensure that material statements made during
the recruitment process are accurate. This obligation can make an employer liable
for negligent misrepresentations during the hiring process. In your own words,
paraphrase and describe the criteria necessary to establish a negligent
misrepresentation.
The negligent misrepresentation by the employer happens when the company makes an
incorrect statement during the hiring process, leading a candidate to accept a job offer
based on false pretenses and later suffer damages because of it.
Therefore, to establish the negligent misrepresentation, the following must happen:
- The employer should have reasonable care to avoid causing damage to its
candidates.
- The statement must be inaccurate and influence the candidate to accept the job.
- The employer must act negligently, making a statement that knew it was
inaccurate and so, failing to take proper care of the candidate.
- The candidate must have believed and taken into consideration the wrong
statement to make his decision to accept the job offer.
- The trust in the statement must cause damage to the candidate.
Question 3
Provide a definition for the tort of inducement/allurement/enticement. Explain why
should an employer be concerned about aggressive recruiting tactics?
A tort of inducement, allurement or enticement occurs when an employed person is
tempted to leave his current job, generally by exaggerated promises, due to intensive
recruitment tactics. This tort also occurs “when the recruiter promises such things as
promotions, salary increases, job security or other benefits that never materialized”
(Filsinger et. al., 2021, p.35)
This tort can lead to common law liability of the employer if the new employee is later
dismissed. The employee may be entitled to wrongful dismissal, but with even larger
compensation due to the inducement. In this case, the compensation will take into
consideration not only the length of notice of termination but also the fact that he had a
secure job before or if the employee rejected other job opportunities or if he had to
relocate to work for the employer.
Question 4
Explain the circumstances where an employer may be liable for failing to
adequately perform reference checks?
When an employer hires an employee for a position of trust or in which the employee is
allowed to use force, the employer has a common law duty of reasonable care owed to
other parties and therefore is considered liable if this employee in the future harm other
people.
It is the responsibility of the employer to properly check the references of the employee,
to make sure his staff won’t cause any harm to a third party.
The negligence of the employer in doing a detailed reference check and further research
of the candidate configure negligent hiring and can lead to a potential liability of the
employer if this employee harms someone.
Question 5
Explain the steps you would use and the tests you might apply to distinguish
between an independent contractor and an employee. Provide at least two examples
of an independent contractor relationship.
Given the above, common examples of independent contractors are lawyers, a musician
hired to perform at an event, a carpenter hired to perform work in someone’s house (most
tradespeople can configure independent contractors), etc.
Question 6
What are the risks associated with failing to adequately establish and maintain an
independent contractor relationship (i.e. an employer is found to have an
employment relationship with an individual)?
If a court decided that an employer-employee relationship exists, the employer will have
to remit outstanding payments for the time of the contract to various government
agencies regarding the statutory deductions, such as Employment Insurance and Canada
Pension Plan. The organization will also have to pay the individual all the standard
benefits applicable during the time of employment, such as vacation, holidays, overtime,
etc.
References:
Filsinger et. al. (2021). Employment Law for Business and HR Professionals – Alberta &
BC Edition (4th ed.)