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.
An employee may be dismissed without reasonable notice if presents a false statement

regarding his qualifications or past work experiences during the interview process. This
principle is called Misrepresentation from the job candidate.
However, the statement must be highly relevant for the hiring decision to configure the
misrepresentation. Otherwise, if it is just a minor misstatement, such as an error on the
length of his former work or in his previous salary, “do not justify dismissal even if the
misstatement was intentional” (Filsinger et. al., 2021, p.31) and influenced in the hiring
process.
It's important to mention that a false statement on jobs that requires a high degree of trust,
can lead to termination without reasonable notice due to the lack of honesty of the
candidate, even if the false statement was not significant for the hiring decision.
Finally, the Misrepresentation principle also applies if the candidate omits requested
information during the hiring process and does not present it within a certain period of
time.
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.
“An independent contractor is a self-employed worker engaged by a principal to perform

specific work” (Filsinger et. al., 2021, p.47).
To differentiate an employee from a contractor, the courts can apply some tests or take
into consideration some characteristics of the employment, such as:
- Check if the employer had full control of the person’s work hours, schedule and
how the work is performed. Or if the work is performed exclusively to the
employer. If yes, then it configures an employer-employee relationship.
- If the individual face the risk of not getting paid for the work performed or has
expenses that are not reimbursed by the employer, it’s most likely that this person
is a contractor.
- Check if the service provided by the person represents an essential part of the
company’s business or if just a separate task performed to assist the company run.
If the work performed it’s not vital for the business, the person is probably not a
contractor.
- If the tools or equipment are provided by the company and not by the person, if
the company bears the cost of the tools, it can configure an employer-employee
relationship.
Therefore, to avoid creating an employer-employee relationship and later on may be

compelled to remit payment for outstanding statutory premiums, a company must take
some steps when hiring an independent contractor:
- The contract should state the person’s status as an independent contractor and
establish a fixed term for the work with a termination clause.
- The company should not discount any statutory benefits for taxes, employee
contributions, or insurance. And the contract should define that such remittances
are the responsibility of the contractor. In the same way, the organization should
not provide any benefits, such as vacation, holidays, or extended health care.
- The company should not determine specific work hours or prohibit the person to
work for other clients.
- The company should not reimburse any expenses for the work performed.
- The contractor should purchase its own insurance and obtain a GST number for
tax purposes.
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.)
Glossary of Legal Terms (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.emond.ca/Customer-Care/Glossary-of-Legal-Terms#D

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Week 2 Reading Comprehension Questions

An employee may be dismissed without reasonable notice if presents a false statement

“An independent contractor is a self-employed worker engaged by a principal to perform

Therefore, to avoid creating an employer-employee relationship and later on may be

Glossary of Legal Terms (n.d.). Retrieved from

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