Reference no: EM133043730

Employment Standards Scenario

Fact Scenario:

Sanjay  began working for PTP Solutions on February 1, 2018. He was hired as a data entry clerk  where he processed customer complaints and entered them into a database.  Sanjay  was earning $880 per week, not including vacation pay.

Jordan is the general manager of PTP. On February 7, 2018, Jordan and Sanjay  signed an employment agreement. In the agreement, Sanjay  would be paid time in lieu for any overtime that he worked. It was a very busy time for PTP and Sanjay  worked many hours of overtime.  From February until the end of June, 2018, Sanjay  worked a total of 180 hours of overtime. In June, Sanjay  took a week off and used 40 hours of lieu time and therefore has 140 hours remaining.

On July 1, 2018, Sanjay  was promoted to customer service manager. In addition to keeping some of the data entry work that he previously performed, Sanjay  is also responsible for recording employee absences and lateness in his work area.  He reports this information to Jordan and Jordan makes the decision regarding discipline and termination.  Sanjay  now earns $968 per week, not including vacation pay.

According to PTP Solutions policy, Sanjay  is no longer entitled to payment of overtime or any lieu time because he is a manager.  Jordan promised to pay out Sanjay 's banked overtime from his previous position over the next twelve months.

Sanjay  finds that the pace of work has increased. He is now working 60 hours per week on average. From July 1, 2018 to June 17, 2019, Sanjay  did not have any time off work. He is working seven days a week, every week. As a manager he is not paid overtime but his employer does pay him time and a half on public holidays. It is difficult to work on public holidays since his children are home; he would like to spend time with them but he needs the money and is appreciative that his company gives him more than straight time for public holidays.

It was so busy at work that Sanjay  could not take time off from work when he had a very high fever. He collapsed in the office and Jordan told him to rest in the sick room for the day. Jordan would have liked to have Sanjay  go home but she needed him at work. Thankfully, his fever subsided and he was able to work the next day.

At the beginning of December, Jordan noticed that a computer near Sanjay 's workstation had been vandalized. Although Jordan could not determine who broke the computer, she had the pay of the 10 employees whose workstations are closest to the computer docked for the damage. Sanjay 's pay was reduced by $150 to cover the damage.

On April 15, 2019, PTP's main client GHI Company announced that it is no longer going to use PTP's services. GHI's business accounts for 40% of PTP's sales.  Although PTP is trying to gain new customers, the loss of business has been enormous!

To avoid huge costs of terminating the employment of its employees, PTP has decided to embark on a new strategy. On May 1, 2019, it announced that, effective immediately, all company health benefits were eliminated.  In addition, all managers will have a 25% pay cut. Sanjay  will therefore earn only $629.20 per week.

At this point, Jordan informed Sanjay  that the company will no longer be paying out his earned overtime from his previous position. From February 2018 to May 1, 2019, PTP had paid Sanjay  a total of $2640 in overtime pay.

On June 5, 2019, Sanjay  was also informed that he was required to agree to a new oral agreement permitting PTP Solutions to eliminate any unused vacation. Given that it was a busy year, Sanjay  never had the chance to use any of his three weeks of his vacation.

Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse!  On June 15, 2019, PTP lost its second major client which accounted for 10% of PTP's business.

On June 17, 2019, all 400 employees of PTP Solutions were informed that their employment would be terminated immediately.  Sanjay  was provided with 2 weeks termination pay in lieu of notice via direct deposit to his bank account.  However, PTP Solutions filed for bankruptcy on June 24, 2019 and Sanjay  was unable to recover any additional monies owing to him.

Sanjay  has approached you for help. Your job is to present his case to the Employment Standards Tribunal.

Assignment

Part 1: Create a report using the format outlined below, which you will submit to the dropbox.

This is not meant to be an extensive report. Three to four pages maximum should be sufficient to outline your position and present your case. 

You are to provide a written report in the following format:

Summary of Issues:
This is where you summarize the complaints under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 that Sanjay has brought to you.

Issues:
Here you provide details of each complaint. You should make reference to the applicable section(s) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and provide examples of relevant case law. Outline any tests, if applicable. The text has examples of cases with similar fact scenarios. Use online resources such as canlii.org to find more examples. Separate into subsections for each pertinent issue.

Conclusion:

This is where you draft your conclusion and state the remedy sought (what he is owed/entitled to under law). In this case, you are asking the tribunal to award Sanjay an appropriate remedy.

Part 2: The Trial

Each student will have approximately 7 to 8 minutes maximum to present their case.  I will send out the appearance schedule via email.

You will present Sanjay's case to me. I will listen to your arguments and ask questions about your conclusion/facts/research, which you should be prepared to answer.

You can use your report to help you during your presentation at trial but be careful not to merely read the report verbatim. I am interested in your advocacy skills.

Only I will be present at your trial, no other students will be present.  At the end of your trial, you are required to submit your written report.