Fixed-term contracts and principle of equal treatment in Canada
| Autor | Eric Tucker - Alec Stromdahl |
| Cargo | Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University - 3rd Year Law Student, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University |
| Páginas | 122-128 |
IusLabor 1/2017
119
FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS AND PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL TREATMENT IN
CANADA
Eric Tucker,
Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and Distinguished Scholar in
Residence, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University
Alec Stromdahl,
3rd Year Law Student, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Introduction
Canada is best characterized as a liberal market economy which lightly regulates
employment relations and, in particular, the duration of employment contracts109. As
such, many of the kinds of protections that might be found in other countries included in
this dossier are not present in Canada. There are, however, a few older statutory
provisions that limit the length of fixed-term contracts and impose formalities for their
creation because of a concern about the creation of disguised forms of unfree labour.
There is also a small body of common law that reflects a preference for contracts of
indefinite hiring over fixed term contracts and that provides for damages when fixed-term
contracts are prematurely terminated without just cause. These are discussed in more
detail below.
Before turning to the law, it is helpful to provide a brief overview of the dimensions of
temporary work and fixed term contracts in particular. Statistics Canada collects data on
permanent and temporary employment. It defines a permanent job as one which is
expected to last as long as the employee wants the job or as long as business conditions
permit. A temporary job is defined as one that has a predetermined end date or will end
as soon as a project is completed. Temporary work is divided into four categories:
seasonal jobs that are expected to last for a season; contract jobs that have a fixed duration
but are not seasonal; casual jobs that are on call or in which hours are expected to vary
widely; and other. Overall, temporary employment has increased between 1997 and 2016
from 11.3% to 13.3% of all employment. Contract employment has increased more
rapidly than other forms of temporary work, comprising about 46% of temporary jobs in
1997 and 52% in 2016.110 One study of temporary employment found that short-term
temporary jobs of less than one year are becoming less frequent; in 1997 about of
109 Canada is a federation and, for the most part, labour and employment is regulated at the provincial
level. However, in general, labour and employment laws are similar between Canadian jurisdictions. This
study uses Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, as a case study.
110 Statistics Canada, Cansim Table 282-0080.
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu prueba