In the recent decision of Matijczack v. Homewood Health
Inc., 2021 BCSC 1658 (Homewood Health), the BC
Supreme Court confirmed that employers must provide consideration
to make amendments to existing employment agreements
enforceable.
Following a 2018 decision from the BC Court of Appeal (Rosas
v. Toca, 2018 BCCA 191), the law relating to consideration for
contractual amendments has been in flux. The Homewood
Health decision makes it clear that consideration is required
in the employment context:
"The requirement of
consideration to support an amended agreement is especially
important in the employment context, where there is an inequality
of bargaining power, and particularly in the circumstances of an
amendment to an existing contract, where the employee is more
vulnerable, due to being dependent on the pay from their continued
employment."
