Question

You are the vice-president of a large manufacturer. You work in the head office and main distribution centre, where the main activity is the shipping of inventory to the various stores in the chain. Traditionally the employees have been permitted to take home, free of charge, irregular product (it would otherwise be destroyed). After a number of years you discover that some employees, you don’t know who, have been deliberately damaging product in order to get them for free, and you determine that this activity should stop. You advise one of your subordinates to tell the employees this. A few weeks later you determine that two of your employees are still taking home irregular items, with the permission of the manufacturers’ representatives. When you ask your subordinate about the notification that he gave the employees he tells you that he told the employees at a meeting and that he thinks that most of the employees were there. No written notification was provided and no attendance was taken at the meeting.

The two employees in question have been working for the company for 30 and 35 years respectively and are 57 and 62 years of age.

1. Can you terminate these employees for just cause? Please provide a full analysis of the facts and the law to support your answer.

2. If you were unable to terminate them for just cause and choose to fire the employees in any event, explain how you would determine the appropriate amount of notice of termination that you would need to give specifying five of the factors you would use in making the decision and how they impact on the notice period required. In addition, specify whether you are provided with sufficient information in the question to determine each of the factors that you have listed or require further information in order to make the determination. Please explain your answer fully, and ensure that you indicate how each factor that you consider relates to the amount of notice provided.  

Answer 1