IDRL 320 Final Exam Questions with Verified Solutions Rated A+
Arbitrator - Answers an independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute.
collective agreement - Answers The employment agreement reached between the union and employer
setting out the bargaining unit employees' terms and conditions of employment.
Common Law - Answers A system of judge-made rules. Common law rules can evolve as social values
change.
Contract of employment - Answers a legal agreement between employer and employee listing the rights
and responsibilities of workers
dependent contractor - Answers A worker whose status falls in between that of an employee and an
independent contractor. This worker has more autonomy and independence than a typical employee
yet remains economically dependent on one customer for income and is subject to considerable control
at the hands of that customer.
Implied contract term - Answers A default contract term invented by common law judges and read into
an employment contract when the written terms of the contract (if any) do not address the specific
issue addressed by the implied term.
precarious work - Answers Work that is defined by characteristics such as job insecurity; short job
tenure; low pay; few benefits; low collective bargaining coverage; and sporadic, limited, or
unpredictable work hours.
Standard Employment Relationship - Answers A model of employment characterized by stable, long-
term job security, full-time hours, decent benefits, and wage rates that rise steadily over time
Wrongful dismissal - Answers A type of lawsuit by an employee against a former employer alleging that
the employer terminated their contract without complying with the implied term in the contract
requiring "reasonable notice."
At will employment contract - Answers An employment contract in which either party may terminate
the contract at any time, for any or no reason, with no notice to the other party. This is the default
model in the United States. In Canada, employment standards legislation requires notice of termination
and therefore prohibits at will contracts for employees covered by the legislation
Aggravated damages - Answers Damages awarded to the innocent party that compensate for mental or
psychological pain and suffering caused by the guilty party's wrongful act.
Ancillary contract term - Answers Contract terms found in written materials that are physically separate
from an employment contact but that include rules that relate to the employment relationship.
Balance of probabilities - Answers An evidentiary standard of proof requiring evidence that it is more
likely than not that an incident occurred
, Bardal factors - Answers Criteria considered by Canadian courts in assessing the length of time required
by the implied obligation to provide "reasonable notice" of termination of an employment contract. The
name comes from the leading decision called Bardal v. Globe and Mail Ltd., decided in 1960.
Compensatory Damages - Answers damages that compensate the innocent party for the direct loss of
benefits they would have earned had the contract not been violated.
Constructive dismissal - Answers A fundamental change to an employment contract by an employer that
an employee may treat as an effective termination of the contract.
Duty to mitigate - Answers A legal obligation on the victim of a breach of contract by the other party to
make reasonable efforts to limit the amount of damages suffered as a consequence of the breach.
Duty to Warn - Answers A requirement in both the common law and collective bargaining law regimes
for employers to warn employees that their behaviour or performance is unacceptable and to give them
a reasonable opportunity to correct their performance.
Expressed contract term - Answers Terms of a contract that the parties have explicitly agreed to, either
orally or in writing.
frustration of contract - Answers The termination of a contract caused by an unforeseen event that
renders performance of the contract impossible.
insubordination - Answers A breach by an employee of the implied or expressed term of an employment
contract requiring the employee to obey an employers orders and instructions.
Principle of proportionality - Answers The test applied by the courts in summary dismissal cases that
assesses whether the termination of an employee's contract without notice is an appropriate response
to the employee's misconduct, considering all of the relevant facts
Progressive Discipline - Answers The application in stages by employers of progressively more serious
discipline to correct performance problems.
Punitive Damages - Answers Damages ordered against a party who engages in outrageous or egregious
behaviour deserving of special denunciation and retribution.
summary dismissal - Answers Termination of an employment contract by an employer without notice to
the employee in response to a serious breach of contract by the employee.
Repudiation of contract - Answers A breach of contract that demonstrates an intention by the party to
treat the contract as at an end and to no longer be bound by the contract.
Unconscionability doctrine - Answers A contract or contract term that a court refuses to enforce
because it is a result of inequality of bargaining power that was exploited by the more powerful party to
obtain a contract that is substantially unfair considering community standards of commercial morality.
Arbitrator - Answers an independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute.
collective agreement - Answers The employment agreement reached between the union and employer
setting out the bargaining unit employees' terms and conditions of employment.
Common Law - Answers A system of judge-made rules. Common law rules can evolve as social values
change.
Contract of employment - Answers a legal agreement between employer and employee listing the rights
and responsibilities of workers
dependent contractor - Answers A worker whose status falls in between that of an employee and an
independent contractor. This worker has more autonomy and independence than a typical employee
yet remains economically dependent on one customer for income and is subject to considerable control
at the hands of that customer.
Implied contract term - Answers A default contract term invented by common law judges and read into
an employment contract when the written terms of the contract (if any) do not address the specific
issue addressed by the implied term.
precarious work - Answers Work that is defined by characteristics such as job insecurity; short job
tenure; low pay; few benefits; low collective bargaining coverage; and sporadic, limited, or
unpredictable work hours.
Standard Employment Relationship - Answers A model of employment characterized by stable, long-
term job security, full-time hours, decent benefits, and wage rates that rise steadily over time
Wrongful dismissal - Answers A type of lawsuit by an employee against a former employer alleging that
the employer terminated their contract without complying with the implied term in the contract
requiring "reasonable notice."
At will employment contract - Answers An employment contract in which either party may terminate
the contract at any time, for any or no reason, with no notice to the other party. This is the default
model in the United States. In Canada, employment standards legislation requires notice of termination
and therefore prohibits at will contracts for employees covered by the legislation
Aggravated damages - Answers Damages awarded to the innocent party that compensate for mental or
psychological pain and suffering caused by the guilty party's wrongful act.
Ancillary contract term - Answers Contract terms found in written materials that are physically separate
from an employment contact but that include rules that relate to the employment relationship.
Balance of probabilities - Answers An evidentiary standard of proof requiring evidence that it is more
likely than not that an incident occurred
, Bardal factors - Answers Criteria considered by Canadian courts in assessing the length of time required
by the implied obligation to provide "reasonable notice" of termination of an employment contract. The
name comes from the leading decision called Bardal v. Globe and Mail Ltd., decided in 1960.
Compensatory Damages - Answers damages that compensate the innocent party for the direct loss of
benefits they would have earned had the contract not been violated.
Constructive dismissal - Answers A fundamental change to an employment contract by an employer that
an employee may treat as an effective termination of the contract.
Duty to mitigate - Answers A legal obligation on the victim of a breach of contract by the other party to
make reasonable efforts to limit the amount of damages suffered as a consequence of the breach.
Duty to Warn - Answers A requirement in both the common law and collective bargaining law regimes
for employers to warn employees that their behaviour or performance is unacceptable and to give them
a reasonable opportunity to correct their performance.
Expressed contract term - Answers Terms of a contract that the parties have explicitly agreed to, either
orally or in writing.
frustration of contract - Answers The termination of a contract caused by an unforeseen event that
renders performance of the contract impossible.
insubordination - Answers A breach by an employee of the implied or expressed term of an employment
contract requiring the employee to obey an employers orders and instructions.
Principle of proportionality - Answers The test applied by the courts in summary dismissal cases that
assesses whether the termination of an employee's contract without notice is an appropriate response
to the employee's misconduct, considering all of the relevant facts
Progressive Discipline - Answers The application in stages by employers of progressively more serious
discipline to correct performance problems.
Punitive Damages - Answers Damages ordered against a party who engages in outrageous or egregious
behaviour deserving of special denunciation and retribution.
summary dismissal - Answers Termination of an employment contract by an employer without notice to
the employee in response to a serious breach of contract by the employee.
Repudiation of contract - Answers A breach of contract that demonstrates an intention by the party to
treat the contract as at an end and to no longer be bound by the contract.
Unconscionability doctrine - Answers A contract or contract term that a court refuses to enforce
because it is a result of inequality of bargaining power that was exploited by the more powerful party to
obtain a contract that is substantially unfair considering community standards of commercial morality.
