 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Bauer v. Pottsville Area Emergency Medical Services8/25/2000
itute an offer of an employment contract with those terms. The employee signifies acceptance of the terms and conditions by continuing to perform the duties of his or her job; no additional or special consideration is required. Darlington v. General Electric, 504 A.2d 306, 320 (Pa. Super. 1986) (Beck, J. concurring).
In this case, the employee handbook stated, in relevant part:
EMPLOYMENT
Pottsville Area E.M.S., (herein referred to as PAEMS), is an "at will" employer. This means that employment may be offered or denied at any time for any reason. Both PAEMS management and the employee reserve the right to terminate employment at any time for any reason.
*
STATUS CLASSIFICATIONS
Full Time-Any employee scheduled for at least 36 hours per week for a period of 90 consecutive days will be treated as a full time employee. (Employee Handbook, effective May 1, 1998, at 1.)
In addition, the handbook set forth appellee's policy regarding attendance, vacation, paid sick time and other benefits. Specifically, full-time employees are given forty (40) hours of sick time per year, eight (8) hours of compensated time off for holidays, up to twenty-four (24) hours of bereavement leave, health coverage, and compensation for military service and jury duty. The handbook does not provide for part time and per diem employee benefits.
In its Opinion, the trial court found there was no contract upon which to base a cause of action because appellee evidenced its intent to maintain the at-will employment relationship. We disagree. In this case, a reasonable person in appellant's position would understand that his continued performance would bear the fruits of his employer's policies. Appellant worked the requisite 36 hours per week for in excess of 90 days and received none of the benefits provided for in the handbook.
An aspect of this case which is unlikely to be found in other cases involving quasi contractual relationships arising from employee handbooks has to do with public policy. Emergency medical services involve critical day- to-day 24-hour responses to emergency medical needs of the population. In some cases, the service is fully funded by the municipality involved or is partly financed by state and federal grant programs and/or public solicitations. There are wide varieties of services and wide discretion as to implementation. Some are adjuncts to police departments, fire departments and even spin-offs from funeral directors because of the access to ambulance type vehicles. In all cases, they attempt to fill an important community need within the available resources. To the extent the service provided is not fully funded by government or is created as a specific arm of a mandated public service, subject to contract or even union-negotiated agreements, there exists wide flexibility in the operative arrangement of the employment relationship. The nebulous and temporary character of the employment is illustrated by the provision in question here.
In the handbook presented to appellant/employee, while elements of a contract can be derived on a quantum meruit basis in accordance with unilateral terms contained in the handbook, no absolute, binding and conclusive arrangement flows from implementation of the terms. It is only at the election of the employer that full employment status and benefits are derived from the terms in the handbook. The flexibility provided by those provisions may be necessitated as emergency calls cannot be completely regulated or predicted on an hourly or days-worked basis. There can and will be fluctuations in the call upon such services. Similarly, fill-in during vac
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pennsylvania Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|