'This is a terrible situation,' says company spokesperson
Adam Squires, a 44-year-old Keswick, Ont. resident, says he’s now in a dire financial situation after a hiring miscommunication with Loblaws’ new logistics and distribution centre in East Gwillimbury.
The facility, which is conducting a major recruitment drive to fill about 1,000 positions, allegedly promised job that never materialized, leaving him unemployed and uncertain about the future.
“All I wanted was a job. That’s it,” Squires told Newmarket Today. “I just lost a lot for my future, for my retirement, who knows.”
Verbal job offer?
Squires, a former auto manufacturing worker, was drawn to the promise of a unionized position with a pension at Loblaws. With significant experience in warehouse work, including forklift operation and welding, he attended an employment fair and secured an interview.
Squires said the interview went well and that he was verbally offered a job with a start date of Nov. 18. So, he resigned from his current position, giving the required two weeks’ notice.
“I was so excited. I was literally the happiest I’ve been in 20 years or more for a job,” he told Newmarket Today.
However, Squires said the promised email with his written contract never arrived. When his start date came and went, he went to the facility, only to find out he wasn’t on the orientation list.
According to Squires, an HR representative informed him that the recruiter he had dealt with was no longer with the company and that he was not listed as an employee. While Squires was told that more hiring might occur in January, the delay has left him in a precarious position.
“I might not have a house to live in January,” he said in the article. “I left a lot of money on the table.”
‘Terrible situation’: Loblaws
A spokesperson for Loblaws said the company does not extend verbal job offers and emphasized that their hiring process includes secondary interviews and background checks before issuing written contracts. They described the situation as a “misunderstanding” but noted they are empathetic to Squires’ challenges.
“This, I think, is obviously a terrible situation, and we’re completely empathetic to the challenges Mr. Squires is facing,” the spokesperson said.
They added that the company has reached out to support Squires in reapplying for another position, said Newmarket Today.
Legal implications of verbal offers
Employment lawyer Lumi Pungea from Samfiru Tumarkin LLP noted that verbal job offers, while harder to prove than written ones, can still create employer liability if there is sufficient evidence of discussions.
A situation could make an employer liable for damages and could be pursued as a civil claim,” Pungea told Newmarket Today, explaining that potential damages could range from three to six months’ wages for lost income and opportunities.
In reflecting on the case, Pungea highlighted its broader implications.
“It’s a very, very unfortunate situation for the individual,” she said. “It illustrates how employers and recruits and organizations have to be very careful and treat this kind of situation with a lot of responsibility and care to avoid the unfortunate situation that we’re dealing with.”
