Amazon hiring blitz and employment contracts for new, existing workers

Amazon Canada recently announced that it is hiring 15,000 new warehousing and distribution employees in communities across Canada this fall. The company also announced that its existing employees may be provided wage increases.

Many of those offered a job with the e-commerce giant will likely be asked to sign an employment contract. It is common for employers to request that new employees sign employment contracts before they begin work. The same requests are often made of existing employees who are being offered wage increases. However, employment contracts can significantly weaken your rights. Despite this, most employees do not take the time to properly understand what their employment contract contains.

Starting a New Job

Where no employment contract exists, employment legislation and the common law governs the employee-employer relationship. Companies often try to restrict employee access to these rights through clauses in their employment contracts.

The following are some examples of clauses that typically restrict an employee’s rights:

Termination clause

A termination clause can severely limit the amount of severance pay for an Amazon employee when they lose their job. Some may be unenforceable due to the way they have been written.

Layoff provision

This term provides an employer with the right to place an employee on a temporary layoff. It can restrict an employee’s options and rights to compensation if they are laid off without pay.

Changing the terms of employment

An employment contract may contain language that allows an employer to unilaterally alter the fundamental terms of the agreement. This can include changes to your duties, hours of work or pay. It can eliminate an employee’s ability to file a constructive dismissal claim for severance pay if the material terms of their employment are changed suddenly.

We welcome you to contact our firm if your employer, Amazon or otherwise, requires you to sign an employment agreement when starting a new job. Our employment lawyers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia can identify these potentially detrimental clauses to help protect your rights throughout your employment.

Asked to sign a new contract during your employment?

In order for an employment agreement, introduced after the commencement of your employment, to be enforceable, your employer must provide you with some type of benefit in return. This can take the form of a raise or a bonus. Keep in mind that if your employer asks you to sign a new agreement, they are likely asking you to give something up.

LEARN MORE
• What should employees look for in an employment contract?
• Trial Win: Employers, follow your contracts to a tee
• Ontario Court of Appeal says termination clauses not valid

Refusing to sign a new contract

If you refuse to sign a new employment agreement, you may not get the benefit the employer is offering you. But you will avoid losing any rights that you were likely being asked to forfeit. Your employer may terminate your employment without cause for refusing to sign a new agreement, but in that case, you would be owed full severance.

If your employer asks you to sign a new employment contract, contact our firm to have our legal experts thoroughly review the document before you agree to anything.