A recent case from the British Columbia Supreme Court is a useful reminder that employers can be responsible for compensation to a person who has their job offer pulled.
The case Buchanan v. Introjunction Ltd., 2017 BCSC 1002 involved an employer that terminated the person’s employment before he started work.
The employer tried to argue that the newly hired employee should not be entitled to any payments since he would have been under a probationary period when starting work and therefore could have his employment terminated at any point without compensation. The court disagreed and stated that the employee was entitled to pay even though the employer had an employment contract which stated that the employee’s employment could be terminated during the probation period at any point without any notice or payments.
The court specifically stated that the probation clause did not apply both because the employee had not begun employment and because the employer had demonstrated an intention to not honour the contract (anticipatory breach). The court then ordered the employer to pay the new employee based on common law notice principles.
This case shows that employers can be liable for significant payments to employees when job offers are revoked.