Can My Employer Fire Me For Time Theft?
Many people may not realize that when they are shopping online during work hours, consistently leaving early, or taking extended breaks, that this may constitute time theft from their employer. Time theft occurs when you receive payment from your employer for hours you did not actually work. You may be asking, how serious an issue is this really? Can my employer fire me for time theft?
Can a Single Incident of Time Theft Get Me Fired?
In British Columbia, a project manager with over 20 years of service was terminated for alleged time theft and insubordination. The employee maintained that his time-keeping practices were long-established and that his leave requests had been approved. However, the court found that the employee had recorded 30 minutes a day for untaken coffee breaks and that the employer had ordered him to stop this practice. With the time removed, the worker had actually worked fewer hours than required. Moreover, despite being warned about his behaviour in a performance review, the employee continued his practice of overreporting his hours until his termination. The Supreme Court of British Columbia found that the dismissal was justified as the employee was dishonest in reporting his hours and his conduct was fraudulent, amounting to wilful misconduct.
In Ontario, time theft could constitute just cause for termination, which would allow an employer to dismiss an employee without providing notice or severance in place of notice, if an employee’s actions (such as time theft) are considered wilful misconduct and a serious breach of trust and undermine the employment relationship. If an employee wilfully commits time theft during the hours that their employer is paying them to complete work, an employer could terminate the employee for just cause.
What Happens If I’m Accused of Time Theft at Work?
However, an employer must also demonstrate that the employee wilfully committed time theft, and that the employer had provided the employee with warnings prior to terminating your employment. To successfully argue that an employee was correctly terminated for just cause, an employer must demonstrate that the time theft was not an isolated incident, the misconduct was serious, that it was intentional, and that the employee’s conduct caused an irreparable breakdown in the employment relationship. If an employer is unable to prove several of these elements, a court may determine that the employee was wrongfully dismissed from their employment.
How can Whitten & Lublin help?
In short, your employer could fire you with cause, for time theft, depending on the individual circumstance. If you have been terminated for cause, due to alleged time theft, you may have a claim for wrongful dismissal. Contact us for further information regarding your entitlements online or by phone at (416) 640-2667.
Author – Abby Leung