This article explains the concept of inducement in employment law. Inducement refers to a particular situation when an employer has persuaded or enticed an employee to quit the secure job they had in order to go work for them. On some occasions, your new employer can make promises such as offering an increase to your salary, offering benefits and of course, job security for you to leave your previous job.

The problem occurs when you are fired shortly after being employed. An employee who finds themselves in a situation like this might feel overwhelmed as they now have no job security at all. Many questions may arise such as what I am entitled to. 

In situations where an employee feels they have been wrongfully dismissed, the next step they should take is to determine how much pay in lieu of notice or how much reasonable notice they are entitled to. 

When it comes to determining the number of damages or the length of notice that an employee is entitled to receive upon their termination, courts have considered the following factors, known as the Bardal factors:

• Length of service provided
• Age 
• Position for which the employee has been hired
• Availability of similar employment taking into account the employee’s training, qualifications, and experience 

Case law indicates that employees who have been found to be induced to work with an employer or an organization may be entitled to damages. Generally speaking, when courts are resolving a wrongful dismissal case, they often can look into how the hiring process occurred. If they determine that the employer persuaded or enticed the employee to quit their previous job in which they had long-term job security, this influences the courts into determining what the employee’s termination entitlements would be.  

Once inducement has been determined, courts will have taken into the account the combined years of service with the current and previous employer. This could lead to an increase in severance which the employee who has been dismissed is entitled to. 

You may ask yourself how long does inducement last? What happens if I get fired two years after I was persuaded to leave my previous job? The answer to this will always depend on the court’s discretion regarding what is considered reasonable and fair depending on each case. Generally speaking, inducement has the most impact when the employee is terminated shortly after leaving the previous job. 

It is important to keep in mind that not all actions taken during the hiring process will support an employee’s claim for inducement. There is always some level of courtship that occurs during the hiring process, but with this being said it is important to determine if the employer or recruiter’s behavior exceeded the usual entreaties that accompany a job offer. A good example of when the courts could conclude that there was no inducement would be when an employee is actively looking for a job and is contacted by either the employer or recruiter and hired. It is clear in this example that the employer did not go beyond reasonable measures to persuade the employee into leaving his previous job. 

In Ontario, the courts have considered certain factors to determine whether inducement has occurred based on the method of recruitment used by the employer:

• Expectations of both parties 
• Did the employee seek work with the prospective employer?
• Whether there was a guarantee of long-term employment
• Whether the employee did due diligence prior to accepting the job offer by inquiring into the company 
• Whether the communications between the employer or recruiter with the employee were more persuasive than normal communication between a prospective hiree 
• Length of the time the employee remained at the new position for which he was hired  

Conclusion 

Inducement occurs when your prospective future employer exceeds the ordinary level of persuasion by either making offers of better pay, promotion, or any other company benefits in order for you to quit your previous job in which you had job security. It is important to understand the factors that have been discussed to determine whether inducement occurred based on the method your new employer used to recruit you and to remember that what you are entitled to will always depend on the court’s discretion regarding what is considered reasonable and fair in each case.

Contact Achkar Law

If you are an employer who wants to understand how to avoid engaging in the inducement, or an employee who believes they were induced and then dismissed, our team of experienced workplace lawyers at Achkar Law can help.

Contact us by phone at 1 (800) 771-7882, or email at [email protected] and we would be happy to assist.