Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles - Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
VOLUNTARILY LEAVING EMPLOYMENT
6.3.8 Significant Modification of Terms and Conditions Respecting Wages and Salary
A person is entitled to expect that the conditions respecting wages or salary agreed to with the employer or included in the person's employment contract will be honoured. A person is also entitled to expect to be paid without undue delay for work completed. Things do not always turn out that way, however.
This may happen in the following context, where there is a significant modification in the terms and conditions respecting the person's wages or salary or when there is a change in the terms and conditions of employment that has a significant impact on wages and salary: a formal promise of a pay increase is not honoured; the salary terms negotiated at the time of hiring are not respected; the person's total take-home pay is changed without justification; or the person cannot be paid because of financial difficulties on the part of the employer1.
The employer breaches the employment contract if there is a failure to honour a prior promise to grant a pay increase. Even if he or she has no other employment prospects, a person has just cause for leaving provided he or she first uses the available reasonable alternatives for remedying the situation, whether through the union or by using the provisions in the collective agreement.
This applies only if there is a formal promise; vague promises that are constantly put off are not sufficient. The officer will have to determine which version is the most credible when the information gathered from each of the parties is contradictory and raises doubt as to the existence of a genuine promise.
Dissatisfaction with the rate of pay, the desire for a promotion and the denial of a pay increase do not in themselves constitute just cause for leaving employment. A reasonable alternative in these circumstances would be to bring the situation to the employer's attention and, in the event there is no satisfactory resolution, not leaving until other employment more in line with the person's expectations is obtained.
A person who is new in a job and finds that the employer is not honouring the salary terms agreed to at the time of hiring has just cause in leaving employment provided he or she used the available reasonable alternatives, namely discussing the situation with the employer or reporting the situation to the union.
Every person has a legitimate desire to increase or at the very least maintain his or her total take-home pay. Consequently, unless it is justified or inherent in the occupation, a decrease in a person's total take-home pay can constitute just cause for voluntarily leaving employment except where the decrease is minimal. For example, a person has just cause in leaving employment if the reclassification of his or her position results in a significant decrease in pay, provided, however, the person used the available reasonable alternatives for remedying the situation.
A decrease in pay may be considered justified where, for example, a person fails to meet the conditions established for the person to receive a particular salary. A person does not have just cause for voluntarily leaving employment if he or she objects to a substantial decrease in pay accepted by the union or a majority of the employees in order to help keep the employer in business.
A decrease in pay during the winter caused by less favourable conditions inherent in the work sector does not constitute just cause. Nor is there just cause when the decrease in pay is caused by a change in the place of work, that is, from one site to another, or when the decrease is the result of the fact that the employer replaced daily pay with a piecework rate.
In general, any change in the terms and conditions of employment that has a significant impact on wages or salary should be considered to determine if just cause exists for voluntarily leaving an employment.
For example, a change in employment status from full-time to part-time with a significant reduction in the number of hours to be worked on a weekly basis impacts on the amount of dollars the claimant will earn and could certainly constitute a significant modification of terms and conditions respecting wages and salary. It is similar when there is a unilateral modification of a person's employment with a significant reduction in the hours worked and the introduction of a split shift that renders the employment no longer suitable and just cause then may exist.
Unless there is a reasonable alternative, a change in the terms and conditions of employment that has a significant impact on wages or salary may be just cause for voluntarily leaving an employment especially when for example there is no guarantee by the employer as to the number of hours a person would be given to work, and a generous severance package is offered as a counterpart and also the person definitely needs full-time work to support his or her family2.
Finally, an employer may be experiencing financial difficulties that may prevent the payment of wages due. Even though a person is entitled to be paid for work completed without undue delay, leaving employment on the strength of mere suspicion as to the solvency of the employer or because the person was unable to cash a cheque issued by the employer is not a reasonable alternative.
The person must first ascertain through the employer or the union that the problem was not simply an error or the result of another factor not related to financial difficulties. The person may then have just cause for leaving if he or she did in fact experience a loss in salary or the potential loss is based on reasonable grounds.
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- Jurisprudence Index/voluntarily leaving employment/just cause/significant change in salary/; N. Horlsen (A-517-94, CUB 25209);
- Jurisprudence Index/voluntarily leaving employment/just cause/significant change in salary/.
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Summary
Significant Modification in Terms and Conditions Respecting Wages or Salary |
Reasonable Alternatives:
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