L'interaction entre le droit civil et le droit du travail : le rôle du contrat dans l'accès aux régimes de protection des travailleurs
The interaction between civil law and labour legislation has many facets. This thesis deals with one of the manifestations of this interaction which is the use of the contract in determining the application of labour protection legislation in Quebec. The coverage of the labour protection legislation is reserved for those who have the status of "worker" or "employee" within the meaning of these legislation, so how these concepts are defined by the legislature is important. We study in our text the impact that the use of the concept of employment contract may have in this context. In the first part of the thesis, we study the role of civil law in the development of labour protection legislation. We focus on the existence of a set of rights and obligations applicable to the employment relationship regardless of the will of the parties. In the second part, we present two possible bases of the relationship covered by labour legislation, both the contractual thesis and the "employment relationship" thesis, as well as how they are received in Quebec and elsewhere. In the third part of our text, we examine the practical effects of applying the criteria of civil law contracts in determining whether a person can be covered by labour protection legislation from the analysis of certain tribunal cases. We focus more specifically on the treatment accorded by courts and administrative tribunals to people in atypical jobs as casual, seasonal and independent workers. We also explore whether an approach based on factual reality, the characteristics of the employment relationship and the goals of public order legislation can be a possible solution to the problems that the use of the contract to determine personal scope of labour protection legislation may raise.
Contract of employment Working relationship Personal scope of labour legislation Employee Worker Atypical workers