A description of the common law duty of loyalty as applied by courts, compared to the duty as construed by arbitrators under CBAs. The employee conduct reviewed includes competition with the employer, preparation for such competition, doing work for a competitor, engaging in conduct that impairs performing for the employer, the adherence to religious beliefs …

Employment law in Canada (both judicial and arbitral) imposes standards of loyalty that are stricter than those in the United States. This article describes those duties of good faith and fidelity.

Professor Goldman asserts that a duty of loyalty should be invoked only when those seeking loyalty have earned their claim to it: where the employee has violated a specific provision of the CBA, or where the overall nature of the relationship demonstrates that the employer has earned the expectation of employee loyalty.