IDRL 320 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS ANSWERED CORRECTLY LATEST UPDATE 2026
Arbitrator - Answers an independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute.
collective agreement - Answers The employment agreement reached between the union and
employer setting out the bargaining unit employees' terms and conditions of employment.
Common Law - Answers A system of judge-made rules. Common law rules can evolve as social values
change.
Contract of employment - Answers a legal agreement between employer and employee listing the
rights and responsibilities of workers
dependent contractor - Answers A worker whose status falls in between that of an employee and an
independent contractor. This worker has more autonomy and independence than a typical employee
yet remains economically dependent on one customer for income and is subject to considerable
control at the hands of that customer.
Implied contract term - Answers A default contract term invented by common law judges and read
into an employment contract when the written terms of the contract (if any) do not address the
specific issue addressed by the implied term.
precarious work - Answers Work that is defined by characteristics such as job insecurity; short job
tenure; low pay; few benefits; low collective bargaining coverage; and sporadic, limited, or
unpredictable work hours.
Standard Employment Relationship - Answers A model of employment characterized by stable, long-
term job security, full-time hours, decent benefits, and wage rates that rise steadily over time
Wrongful dismissal - Answers A type of lawsuit by an employee against a former employer alleging
that the employer terminated their contract without complying with the implied term in the contract
requiring "reasonable notice."
At will employment contract - Answers An employment contract in which either party may terminate
the contract at any time, for any or no reason, with no notice to the other party. This is the default
model in the United States. In Canada, employment standards legislation requires notice of
termination and therefore prohibits at will contracts for employees covered by the legislation
Aggravated damages - Answers Damages awarded to the innocent party that compensate for mental
or psychological pain and suffering caused by the guilty party's wrongful act.
Ancillary contract term - Answers Contract terms found in written materials that are physically
separate from an employment contact but that include rules that relate to the employment
relationship.
Balance of probabilities - Answers An evidentiary standard of proof requiring evidence that it is more
likely than not that an incident occurred
Bardal factors - Answers Criteria considered by Canadian courts in assessing the length of time
required by the implied obligation to provide "reasonable notice" of termination of an employment
contract. The name comes from the leading decision called Bardal v. Globe and Mail Ltd., decided in
1960.
Compensatory Damages - Answers damages that compensate the innocent party for the direct loss of
benefits they would have earned had the contract not been violated.
Constructive dismissal - Answers A fundamental change to an employment contract by an employer
that an employee may treat as an effective termination of the contract.
Duty to mitigate - Answers A legal obligation on the victim of a breach of contract by the other party
to make reasonable efforts to limit the amount of damages suffered as a consequence of the breach.
Duty to Warn - Answers A requirement in both the common law and collective bargaining law
regimes for employers to warn employees that their behaviour or performance is unacceptable and
to give them a reasonable opportunity to correct their performance.
Expressed contract term - Answers Terms of a contract that the parties have explicitly agreed to,
either orally or in writing.
frustration of contract - Answers The termination of a contract caused by an unforeseen event that
renders performance of the contract impossible.
insubordination - Answers A breach by an employee of the implied or expressed term of an
employment contract requiring the employee to obey an employers orders and instructions.
Principle of proportionality - Answers The test applied by the courts in summary dismissal cases that
assesses whether the termination of an employee's contract without notice is an appropriate
response to the employee's misconduct, considering all of the relevant facts
, Progressive Discipline - Answers The application in stages by employers of progressively more serious
discipline to correct performance problems.
Punitive Damages - Answers Damages ordered against a party who engages in outrageous or
egregious behaviour deserving of special denunciation and retribution.
summary dismissal - Answers Termination of an employment contract by an employer without notice
to the employee in response to a serious breach of contract by the employee.
Repudiation of contract - Answers A breach of contract that demonstrates an intention by the party
to treat the contract as at an end and to no longer be bound by the contract.
Unconscionability doctrine - Answers A contract or contract term that a court refuses to enforce
because it is a result of inequality of bargaining power that was exploited by the more powerful party
to obtain a contract that is substantially unfair considering community standards of commercial
morality.
Analogous Grounds - Answers Prohibited grounds of discrimination in equality legislation that are not
listed in the legislation but which the courts have read into the legislation because of their similarity
to the listed grounds that are protected (ex/ marital status, sexual orientation).
Arises and occurs test - Answers The test used by WCBs to determine whether an injury is
compensable. In short it is used to determine whether an injury arose from and occurred during the
course of work.
Bona Fide Occupational Requirement - Answers A defence to discrimination that an employer may
use to prove that a discriminatory rule, standard, or practice was enacted for legitimate business
reasons; it requires that the employer prove that it cannot accommodate the complainant's needs
without causing itself undue hardship.
Contributory Negligence - Answers Negligence of an injured party that contributes to the loss
suffered or damage incurred due to the negligence of another party.
Direct discrimination - Answers a type of discrimination; when an assumption is made about what a
person can or cannot do because of a personal characteristic or attribute
Duty to accommodate - Answers A legal requirement in human rights law to take steps to remove
discriminatory barriers to employment, including altering schedules, rules, or work patterns, or
changing the physical design of a workplace.
Enumerated Grounds - Answers Personal characteristics that are listed in the Charter of rights and
freedoms, namely race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability.
Indirect discrimination - Answers a type of discrimination; when there is a rule or policy that is the
same for everyone, but it has an unfair effect on some people who share a particular attribute
Internal Responsibility System - Answers employers and workers all have a responsibility to ensure a
safe workplace
Just Cause - Answers An employer's legal reason for firing an employee
Prima Facie - Answers based on the first impression; accepted as correct until proved otherwise
Secondary Picketing - Answers Picketing in a labour dispute that takes place at a location other than
the workplace where the workers engaged in the dispute are employed.
Systemic Discrimination - Answers The action by an institution that, through its policies or
procedures, deprives a person or group of a right because of colour, national origin, race, religion, or
sex.
Undue Hardship - Answers The legitimate defence that an employer may raise to justify why it could
not provide an accommodation to an employee.
Back-to-work legislation - Answers legislation requiring that strike action cease and employees return
to work
Cerification - Answers The process for legally recognizing a union as the exclusive bargaining agent of
a particular group of workers.
collective bargaining - Answers Negotiations between representatives of labour unions and
management to determine pay and acceptable working conditions.
Conciliation - Answers A form of mediation in which a neutral collective bargaining expert attempts
to assist an employee association and an employer or employer association in reaching a collective
agreement.
Decertification - Answers legal process for employees to terminate a union's right to represent them
and move from a collective bargaining regime to the common law regime.
Arbitrator - Answers an independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute.
collective agreement - Answers The employment agreement reached between the union and
employer setting out the bargaining unit employees' terms and conditions of employment.
Common Law - Answers A system of judge-made rules. Common law rules can evolve as social values
change.
Contract of employment - Answers a legal agreement between employer and employee listing the
rights and responsibilities of workers
dependent contractor - Answers A worker whose status falls in between that of an employee and an
independent contractor. This worker has more autonomy and independence than a typical employee
yet remains economically dependent on one customer for income and is subject to considerable
control at the hands of that customer.
Implied contract term - Answers A default contract term invented by common law judges and read
into an employment contract when the written terms of the contract (if any) do not address the
specific issue addressed by the implied term.
precarious work - Answers Work that is defined by characteristics such as job insecurity; short job
tenure; low pay; few benefits; low collective bargaining coverage; and sporadic, limited, or
unpredictable work hours.
Standard Employment Relationship - Answers A model of employment characterized by stable, long-
term job security, full-time hours, decent benefits, and wage rates that rise steadily over time
Wrongful dismissal - Answers A type of lawsuit by an employee against a former employer alleging
that the employer terminated their contract without complying with the implied term in the contract
requiring "reasonable notice."
At will employment contract - Answers An employment contract in which either party may terminate
the contract at any time, for any or no reason, with no notice to the other party. This is the default
model in the United States. In Canada, employment standards legislation requires notice of
termination and therefore prohibits at will contracts for employees covered by the legislation
Aggravated damages - Answers Damages awarded to the innocent party that compensate for mental
or psychological pain and suffering caused by the guilty party's wrongful act.
Ancillary contract term - Answers Contract terms found in written materials that are physically
separate from an employment contact but that include rules that relate to the employment
relationship.
Balance of probabilities - Answers An evidentiary standard of proof requiring evidence that it is more
likely than not that an incident occurred
Bardal factors - Answers Criteria considered by Canadian courts in assessing the length of time
required by the implied obligation to provide "reasonable notice" of termination of an employment
contract. The name comes from the leading decision called Bardal v. Globe and Mail Ltd., decided in
1960.
Compensatory Damages - Answers damages that compensate the innocent party for the direct loss of
benefits they would have earned had the contract not been violated.
Constructive dismissal - Answers A fundamental change to an employment contract by an employer
that an employee may treat as an effective termination of the contract.
Duty to mitigate - Answers A legal obligation on the victim of a breach of contract by the other party
to make reasonable efforts to limit the amount of damages suffered as a consequence of the breach.
Duty to Warn - Answers A requirement in both the common law and collective bargaining law
regimes for employers to warn employees that their behaviour or performance is unacceptable and
to give them a reasonable opportunity to correct their performance.
Expressed contract term - Answers Terms of a contract that the parties have explicitly agreed to,
either orally or in writing.
frustration of contract - Answers The termination of a contract caused by an unforeseen event that
renders performance of the contract impossible.
insubordination - Answers A breach by an employee of the implied or expressed term of an
employment contract requiring the employee to obey an employers orders and instructions.
Principle of proportionality - Answers The test applied by the courts in summary dismissal cases that
assesses whether the termination of an employee's contract without notice is an appropriate
response to the employee's misconduct, considering all of the relevant facts
, Progressive Discipline - Answers The application in stages by employers of progressively more serious
discipline to correct performance problems.
Punitive Damages - Answers Damages ordered against a party who engages in outrageous or
egregious behaviour deserving of special denunciation and retribution.
summary dismissal - Answers Termination of an employment contract by an employer without notice
to the employee in response to a serious breach of contract by the employee.
Repudiation of contract - Answers A breach of contract that demonstrates an intention by the party
to treat the contract as at an end and to no longer be bound by the contract.
Unconscionability doctrine - Answers A contract or contract term that a court refuses to enforce
because it is a result of inequality of bargaining power that was exploited by the more powerful party
to obtain a contract that is substantially unfair considering community standards of commercial
morality.
Analogous Grounds - Answers Prohibited grounds of discrimination in equality legislation that are not
listed in the legislation but which the courts have read into the legislation because of their similarity
to the listed grounds that are protected (ex/ marital status, sexual orientation).
Arises and occurs test - Answers The test used by WCBs to determine whether an injury is
compensable. In short it is used to determine whether an injury arose from and occurred during the
course of work.
Bona Fide Occupational Requirement - Answers A defence to discrimination that an employer may
use to prove that a discriminatory rule, standard, or practice was enacted for legitimate business
reasons; it requires that the employer prove that it cannot accommodate the complainant's needs
without causing itself undue hardship.
Contributory Negligence - Answers Negligence of an injured party that contributes to the loss
suffered or damage incurred due to the negligence of another party.
Direct discrimination - Answers a type of discrimination; when an assumption is made about what a
person can or cannot do because of a personal characteristic or attribute
Duty to accommodate - Answers A legal requirement in human rights law to take steps to remove
discriminatory barriers to employment, including altering schedules, rules, or work patterns, or
changing the physical design of a workplace.
Enumerated Grounds - Answers Personal characteristics that are listed in the Charter of rights and
freedoms, namely race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability.
Indirect discrimination - Answers a type of discrimination; when there is a rule or policy that is the
same for everyone, but it has an unfair effect on some people who share a particular attribute
Internal Responsibility System - Answers employers and workers all have a responsibility to ensure a
safe workplace
Just Cause - Answers An employer's legal reason for firing an employee
Prima Facie - Answers based on the first impression; accepted as correct until proved otherwise
Secondary Picketing - Answers Picketing in a labour dispute that takes place at a location other than
the workplace where the workers engaged in the dispute are employed.
Systemic Discrimination - Answers The action by an institution that, through its policies or
procedures, deprives a person or group of a right because of colour, national origin, race, religion, or
sex.
Undue Hardship - Answers The legitimate defence that an employer may raise to justify why it could
not provide an accommodation to an employee.
Back-to-work legislation - Answers legislation requiring that strike action cease and employees return
to work
Cerification - Answers The process for legally recognizing a union as the exclusive bargaining agent of
a particular group of workers.
collective bargaining - Answers Negotiations between representatives of labour unions and
management to determine pay and acceptable working conditions.
Conciliation - Answers A form of mediation in which a neutral collective bargaining expert attempts
to assist an employee association and an employer or employer association in reaching a collective
agreement.
Decertification - Answers legal process for employees to terminate a union's right to represent them
and move from a collective bargaining regime to the common law regime.
