Answers for the Business Law in Canada Course Activities
Activity 7 Unions :
Henry has worked for North49, a small manufacturer of transistors, as a production supervisor for 15 years. He is 42 years old, and the oldest member of the young workforce. He is also the only member of the production team paid a regular salary, rather than an hourly wage, and the only one with a non-competition agreement which restricts him from working for any other electronics component manufacturer in the province for 5 years following termination of his employment with North49, except as a result of a layoff.
As part of a “Recession Work Plan,” management at North49 demanded that he and the other production workers be reduced to 6-hour shifts but to be on-call, including weekends, without any extra pay if there is a demand spike. Henry explained to his boss, Ted, that he couldn’t follow this plan, as it would require him to be available on the weekends when he must be available to look after his young children during his wife’s, Hailey, shifts as an emergency medical service dispatcher.
North49 is not a unionized environment, though one of Henry’s colleagues has suggested getting certified; as a supervisor, and as the only salaried employee, Henry is not sure if he would be part of any such bargaining agreement.
Indeed, management believes that it might have to shut down the company if a union was formed and they were forced to capitulate to a union’s demands. Hailey’s sister is married to Ted, who spearheaded and approved the recession work plan in the first place. Caressa’s a stay-at-home mom to challenged twins and the family, even potentially her sister Hailey and her husband Henry, would be severely impacted if Ted’s job were to be in jeopardy.
Henry has come to you for help for possible solutions to his dilemma. What rights does he have to request accommodation? What can his company demand of him? Would joining a union necessarily be the best solution?
Activity 8 Agreements :
Your boss, Bonnie, is thinking of selling her real estate brokerage business, “Bon Sell-It Real Estate.” She has come to you for help sorting out all the documentation relating to the use and license of tangible and intangible property by the company. Bonnie and Aggie (the company accountant) need to have a list of the types of agreements that should be in place and the correct parties to these agreements.
You have worked for Bonnie and the company for 30 years since the beginning and are considered the company historian. You have pulled together the following information and you now must figure out which pieces of information are relevant to your mission.
Everybody works from the office at 1 Maiden Lane.
The building is owned by Bonnie’s sister, Sassy, who bought it together with her husband, Harry, 31 years ago, just in time for when Bonnie was looking to start the business.
The brokerage is a franchise of “Sell-It Real Estate” and Bonnie is very proud of the logo (that looks like ET calling home). Bonnie is also very proud of the name of the brokerage (also her creation), which she had allowed the franchise to use in exchange for a waiver of the franchise fees for 7 years. The old name of the franchise was “We Sell Properties” which Bonnie thought was bland, but she wanted to stay with the franchise because of the other support she gets from the franchisor.
There are 7 real estate salespeople in the company, all women with various degrees of experience. They are employees of Bonnie and do not have to compete with each other for business. They are a tight knit, friendly group and every month they bring together their creative talents in drawing and poetry to put together a company newsletter which is sent out to former and potential clients as part of community building and marketing efforts.
The front room of the office is called the trophy room, as it hosts the ceramic treasures of the business. These are prototypes of small vases, handcrafted by one of the employees each Christmas, that are selected to go into production and distribution to clients who have given business to the company that year. Each vase has worked the ET logo into the design and is a real selling point for walk-in customers who are drawn to the store by the beautiful vase creations. Bonnie reckons that 32% of her business is generated from walk-in traffic! The vases are the talk of the town (it’s a small town).
Bonnie’s son, Sonny, got his diploma in computer science last year and talked Bonnie into bringing the company into the 21st century. Together with his friend, Fred, he digitized the entire database of client and accounting information for the company using software that Fred wrote as a school project. Sonny was at first reluctant to use Fred’s software solution because it was heavy on open-source code and other “stuff” of unknown origin but at the presentation to the company, the employees thought that Fred’s look and feel was cuter than Sonny’s plan (which was essentially to use some off-the-shelf software product). Besides, Sonny offered off-site backup of the data (which they thought was risky).
Given what you’ve collected about the history and activities of the company, what sort of formal agreements do you think ought to be drawn up for the company to be legally covered? Is there anything in the current arrangements that seems questionable?;
Activity 9 Operations :
Tong, a new immigrant from China, recently graduated with a BBA from Yorkville University. Her father, who is vice president of a factory in China producing unique rice and noodle sauces, is keen on opening up in the Canadian market. Fortunately, Tong had made many friends in the BBA program who were somehow connected to the food service industry.
To make his case to the shareholders in China, Tong’s father wanted her to write up all the requirements to legally sell their products in Canada including packaging, labeling, insurance, and payment options. Tong came to you for help.
What would be the most important points for Tong and her father to consider ensuring they have all the kinds of information they might need to be successful in this venture?
Activity 10 Finance :
Lori has a small nail and make-up business, but she is very creative and has a large inventory of cool new products in which she tries to interest her clients. Unfortunately, it is a very competitive industry and it is difficult to determine what would interest her clients. Lori has not always guessed correctly and her business, which is unincorporated, has struggled; she already has 2 mortgages on her home to support it. Some of her suppliers allow her to carry their products on consignment but many do not and she has maxed out her line of credit with the bank.
Lori has now come across a new line of hair product which she thinks is very promising for the bridal market, which is the cash cow of her business.
This hair product uses a special blow-set machine which she could buy or rent from the supplier. Lori intends to carry this product for at least 4 years and has calculated that the cost of buying the machine at the low financing rate offered by the manufacturer to preferred customers is the same as renting it for 23 months. Thus, she would like to buy the machine, but the manufacturer is rightfully concerned about her debt situation.
Imagine you work for a small finance company. Lori has approached you to see how she can rearrange her affairs. What might you suggest?
Activity 11 : Summary course Case
Tom, Dick, and Harry have been best friends since kindergarten. Tom is the business brain of the group. Dick is the mechanical one and Harry is the creative one. All grown-up, the boys decided that they should start making some serious money to provide for their expanding families. The boys decided that they salvage small scrap metal pieces, nuts, and bolts from junkyards and salvage yards which Harry would design and Dick would cast and weld into decorative art pieces. Tom will raise money from friends and family and look for distribution channels. Dick has a step-daughter, Dorothy, who is 16 and mechanically inclined as well. Dorothy could be Dick’s apprentice. Harry’s wife, Helen, is a recent BBA graduate from Yorkville University specializing in marketing and she could be recruited to help with sales and marketing. Helen’s good friend, Fern, is an award-winning designer with a national home decor chain who the group might be able to induce to join them. Tom’s twin brother, Tim recently won the lottery and is pursuing his dream to be a photographer. Dick’s wife, Janine, is a real estate agent; she believes she has found an old warehouse in the industrial part of town that could be turned into their headquarters. The owner of the warehouse, Jordan, is retiring and open to the idea of selling or renting the space.
1. How might the business be structured?
2. What might be some of the legal issues that could arise in operating the business and selling the product?
3. What are some of the agreements that might be needed?
