Conclusion

• Author: Geoffrey England
• Pages: 350-363

CHAPTER

10

CONCLUSION

One

need

not be a

Marxist

to

agree with

the

fundamental tenet

of

Marxist

doctrine that

the

economic conditions

of a

society exert

a

tre-

mendously strong

— if not

irresistible

—

influence

on its

laws, politi-

cal

values,

and

commercial practices. This

is

certainly borne

out by the

example

of

Canadian employment law.

The

cornerstone

of the

employ-

ment relationship

— the

individual contract

of

employment

— is

gov-

erned

by the

general principles

of

contract

law

that were originally

formulated

in a

commercial context

to

facilitate

the

operation

of

free

markets

in the

production

and

distribution

of

goods

and

services.

Unquestionably,

the

application

of

free

market principles

to the

employment

relationship

provides

many benefits

to

employers,

employees,

and

society

at

large. Today,

no

serious analysis would argue

for

the

complete eradication

of

these principles

from

the

employment

relationship. Nevertheless, this contractualist approach

to the

relation-

ship

creates serious problems

from

the

perspectives

of

each

of the

affected

parties.

The

root

of

these problems

is the

imbalance

of

bargaining power

that

favours

employers over employees

in

most (but certainly

not

all)

employment relationships.

For

most employees, employment

is

offered

on a

"take

it or

leave

it"

basis,

and

even

after

the

contract

has

been

formed,

the

employer usually

has its way in

controlling

the

terms

and

conditions

of the

job.

While

it is

true

that

the

principles

of

contract

law

permit

the

employee

to

decline

an

offer

of

employment

on

terms that

he or she

does

not

like

or to

quit

and sue for

"constructive dismissal"

if

350