Employee claimed he had permission to work from home in a different city; employer claimed it was only a temporary arrangement
This instalment of You Make the Call features an employee who wanted to work from home in another city.
Richard Staley, 47, was a manager of software support for Squirrel Systems of Canada, a developer of “point of sale” systems and software for the food service industry, in Burnaby, B.C. Staley’s duties involved passing on customer needs to technical personnel and assessing the software designed to meet those needs. Most of his work was done on a computer, usually in the head office.
In June 2010, Staley’s wife, who was an RCMP officer, was approved for a transfer to Montreal. A few months earlier, Staley had mentioned the possibility of his moving to Squirrel’s vice-president. He raised the prospect of working remotely from Montreal and the vice-president told him to continue working for now. Staley got the impression he would be able to work remotely from Montreal, but the vice-president claimed there was no indication it would be a permanent arrangement and Staley gave him no timeline for when he was moving.
Staley worked in Burnaby until Sept. 17. A week later, he began working in Montreal remotely using his telephone, email and other electronic devices.
Once the president was informed of the situation, the company told Staley its operations didn’t support management working remotely, so it proposed he become a contractor with limited duties. Staley claimed the company had consented to him working remotely and he didn’t accept “any unilateral changes to my employment status.”
Squirrel Systems allowed Staley to continue working remotely on a temporary basis while it considered its “long-term operational requirement.” It informed him that he may be required to relocate back to B.C. if the company felt it was necessary. If Staley didn’t accept such a request, his employment would be terminated.
Staley refused this proposal, saying he had an agreement in place before he moved and the proposal restricted his right to notices of relocation and termination. On March 29, 2011, the company wrote Staley to tell him it considered the decision to relocate to Montreal as taken independently and if he wished to continue as an employee, he would need to return to the head office by July 4.
Staley indicated he would be unable to move back to B.C. by then. Squirrel Systems gave him an ultimatum to report by June 1 and, when he didn’t, it terminated his employment for cause, effective June 10, 2011.
You Make the Call
Did Squirrel Systems have just cause for dismissal?
OR
Was there an agreement for Staley to work remotely?
If you said there was just cause for dismissal, you’re right. The court found there was no evidence that Squirrel Systems intended for Staley to work remotely in his regular position permanently. Though Staley assumed it, there was no indication it was a permanent arrangement, said the court, and Staley should have known it was the president, who would have the final say in the matter.
Squirrel Systems had no employees outside B.C. and its operations were centralized in its head office. While the prospect of being able to move to Montreal and keep his existing job would have been “wonderfully attractive” to Staley, it was unrealistic to assume it would happen, said the court.
“It is difficult to believe that (Staley) would not have understood that the arrangement he sought would have been anything other than extraordinary,” said the court.
