Termination Provisions In Employment Contracts Are Not Always Enforceable

The recent decision in Miller v. A.B.M. Canada Inc. provides a useful lesson on the extent to which one can rely on the termination provisions in an employment contract.

In this case, Mr. Miller joined ABM in 2009. He was given a draft employment contract with no deadline for him to sign it. It was set up with a series of appropriate headings and a plain language description of the terms appropriate to each heading. It contained a clause entitled "Termination" and at trial, Mr. Miller testified that he saw the heading and knew what it meant but did not read the terms set out under it.

The contract provided for a salary and in addition, ABM agreed to match Mr. Miller's personal pension contributions up to a maximum of six percent of base salary. Mr. Miller was also to be provided with a monthly car allowance. These additional items appeared under the headings "Remuneration" and "Fringe Benefits" respectively.