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ARTICLE · 06 SEPTEMBER 2024

Alberta Employers – Time To Update Your Employment Contracts!

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The Court in Chinook confirmed that a probationary employee can only be terminated during the probation period for "cause."

CanadaEmployment and HR
Michelle McKinnon
Michelle McKinnon
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The Alberta Court of Justice in Sprong v Chinook Lifecare Association, 2024 ABCJ 163 (Chinook) recently reaffirmed a well-established, but often not a well understood principle, that probation clauses in employment contracts create additional obligations on termination of employment. Some employers mistakenly believe that a probation clause allows them to terminate a probationary employee during the probation period for any reason and without any obligation, but that is not the case in Alberta (and some other provinces like British Columbia).

Good Faith Assessment of Suitability

The Court in Chinook confirmed that a probationary employee can only be terminated during the probation period for "cause." Cause in the context of a probationary employee requires the employer to establish that they had "proper justification" for the termination.

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