Unjust Dismissal for Nonunion Workers: Adjudication Decisions in the Canadian Federal Jurisdiction

Abstract

This study involves an analysis of the determinants of adjudicator decisions dealing with complaints of unjust dismissal from nonunionized workers in the Canadian federal jurisdiction. All decisions rendered between the enactment of the legislation in 1978 and up to March 1989 were analyzed and the relevant decisions (395 cases) were coded according to the factors believed to determine arbitral decision making. The results, based on logit analysis, suggest that some of the major just cause principles developed by arbitrators in the unionized sector appear to have been adopted by adjudicators in the nonunion sector; however, it cannot be stated conclusively that the arbitral approach to just cause in the unionized sector has been adopted. Implications for public policy as well as for the participants in the adjudication process are discussed. Statutory protection against unjust dismissal for nonunionized workers has received increasing attention in the last decade. In the United States, legislation to require some form of "just cause" to dismiss employees was introduced in ten state legislatures between 1981 and 1988, albeit so far it was passed only in Montana, in 1987. In 1991, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted a Model Employment-Termination Act that urges reliance on arbitration rather than the civil courts or administrative agencies. As unionization has declined, increased attention has been paid to adopting some of the procedures developed in the union sector into the growing nonunion sector. 'Financial assistance was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 39 © 1993, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc. doi: 10.2190/65FH-YN8R-LMN2-P8CJ http://baywood.com