Contracting electronically in employment

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As e-commerce and electronic communications become more prevalent and expansive, employment lawyers must be ready to advise clients in the area of electronic contracting.

In 1999, the Canadian Uniform Electronic Commerce Act was adopted as a model for electronic commerce laws in Canada. All Canadian jurisdictions, except the Northwest Territories, have adopted similar legislation to govern contracting electronically.

In Ontario, electronic contracts are governed by the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 (ECA). This legislative framework presents novel legal issues and opportunities in the employment context, from initial employment contracts to mid-contract amendments and new policy implementation.

In order to permit electronic contracts, documents and signatures to have the same legal effect as their written counterparts, the ECA employs functional equivalency provisions. For example, it provides that so long as certain preconditions are met, an electronic document will satisfy a legal requirement that a document be in writing, an original, and even in a specified non-electronic form.

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