Prior Employee Experience May Enhance Common Law Entitlements

In the recent decision of Chin v Beauty Express Canada Inc. (“Chin”),¹ the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered the impact of an employee's service with a prior employer on the employee's entitlement to reasonable notice of termination. The Court awarded the employee an elongated notice period because of this previous service, despite the fact that the defendant employer was unrelated to the original employer, was not a successor employer at common law or under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”), and did not agree to recognize her prior service.

Background

The Plaintiff was a 69-year-old esthetician who worked at a beauty salon located inside a large Toronto department store. She worked for a prior employer for 14 years, until its bankruptcy in 2013. Following the bankruptcy, she worked six years for the defendant employer in the same location. Of note, she performed the same job for the same management team for entire the 20-year period,