Paramedic was offered full-time job once he finished college program, then received another offer shortly before he graduated
This instalment of You Make the Call features an employee who accepted a job offer and ignored a second one.
Sean Honoway was a primary care paramedic with Medstar Ventures, an ambulance and emergency medical service provider in Nipawin and Carrot River, Sask. Hired in June 2005, Honoway’s position was an entry-level one and on a casual basis, involving between 25 and 35 hours per week.
Honoway was pursuing paramedic training at the Saskatchewan College of Paramedics and was scheduled to become licensed when he finished his training in early 2011. On March 19, 2009, Medstar sent Honoway a letter offering him a full-time position as an EMT-Paramedic upon the completion of his training. If he accepted, he would be required to report to work within seven days of obtaining his license.
Honoway accepted the offer with a letter on July 1, 2009, that indicated his last day as a casual primary care paramedic would be August 15 so he could attend the training program. However, he continued to work “off and on” during 2009 and 2010 for Medstar while he attended paramedic college.
On Oct. 12, 2010, as Honoway was nearing the end of his paramedic training program, Medstar send him another letter offering him a full-time position. Honoway was confused because he had already accepted an offer. He emailed the operations manager at Medstar to say the company had already offered him a job but he didn’t follow up, nor did he accept the new offer.
In November 2010, a union applied for certification to represent Medstar employees. Medstar provided an employee list that included Honoway, who was called to vote on organizing. Medstar later objected to the vote on the grounds that Honoway was no longer employed with the company, but had voted.
On Dec. 13, Medstar withdrew the second employment offer to Honoway since he hadn’t responded to it. Two days later, Medstar issued a record of employment (ROE) to Honoway indicating he had quit his casual position and his training was complete.
When Honoway received the ROE, he emailed Medstar to say he had never quit and had been offered a full-time paramedic position within seven days of completing his training. Medstar responded by saying Honoway hadn’t responded to the October 2010 offer, so it considered him to have separated himself from employment. The company also indicated he hadn’t confirmed any intention to return after school ended, so it hired another person.
In January 2011, Medstar offered Honoway a position with less favourable terms. Honoway declined because of the terms and the fact he had found casual work as a paramedic with another organization.
You Make the Call
Did the employee end the employment relationship by failing to respond to the second offer of employment?
OR
Did the employer end the employment relationship by withdrawing the offer and sending an ROE?
IF YOU SAID it was the employer who ended the relationship, you’re right. The arbitrator found the 2009 offer of employment was an offer to continue the employment relationship after Honoway completed his paramedic school and Honoway’s acceptance on July 1 made it an enforceable employment contract. Honoway’s obligation was to return to school and report to work within seven days of being licensed and Medstar’s obligation was to provide Honoway with full-time employment at that time, said the arbitrator.
The arbitrator found Honoway lived up to his end of the bargain when he went to school, completed his training and became licensed within the time frame stipulated in the initial job offer. Therefore, Honoway wasn’t obligated to “acknowledge any more than he did” the second offer letter in October 2010, because he already had an employment agreement in place.
The arbitrator noted that Honoway could have done more to tell Medstar of his intentions to return to work under the original contract after he received the second offer, but Medstar could have done more to reach out to him to find out what was going on. In addition, Medstar included Honoway on the list of employees for the union certification vote, so it appeared Medstar viewed itself as being in an employment relationship with Honoway while he was in school, said the arbitrator.
Due to the fact the 2009 employment contract was in effect, the ROE Medstar sent to Honoway in December 2010 was incorrect. There was no reason to assume Honoway had quit because his emails following the receipt of his ROE supported the idea that he hadn’t quit. It was Medstar who terminated the employment relationship when it sent the ROE and the letter withdrawing the second offer, said the arbitrator.
Medstar was ordered to reinstate Honoway as a full-time paramedic with compensation for loss of pay, benefits and seniority from the time his new position would have begun — seven days after he graduated from paramedic college and became licensed.
For more information see:
• Medstar Ventures Inc. and HSAS, Re, 2014 CarswellSask 483 (Sask. Arb.).
