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ARTICLE · 23 SEPTEMBER 2016

Arbitration Clauses In Employment Agreements: Are They Enforceable?

Gardiner Roberts LLP
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It may serve as a practical impediment to an employee seeking redress.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Bryan Skolnik
Bryan Skolnik
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Many employment agreements contain clauses which require the parties to submit to arbitration or some other dispute resolution mechanism prior to or instead of commencing court action.

In cases of national and international employers, those same clauses may require that the arbitration take place in and be subject to the laws of a jurisdiction other than where the employee resides. Often, that location can be more than just inconvenient. It may serve as a practical impediment to an employee seeking redress.

Employment lawyers in Ontario regularly commence actions despite the existence of an arbitration clause which requires attornment to an inconvenient jurisdiction in the hope that the defendant employer will not take issue with so doing. However, section 7(1) of the Arbitrations Act states:

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