$35 per hour as a hygienist. There was no guaranteed minimum number of hours; they ranged from 20 to 35 hours per week. As a hygienist, she was only paid for the hours spent working on patient care. Once she accepted the management position, Plaintiff's hours changed to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., although there is a dispute over the extent to which her actual hours fluctuated weekly within those set hours. She continued to work four days per week, Tuesday to Friday. While the hygienists were required to take an unpaid lunch break, as the office manager, Plaintiff worked through her lunch hours and was paid for that time. As an office manager, Plaintiff's rate of pay was $41 per hour. In 2009, which year was uninterrupted by a maternity leave, her total earnings from Defendant were $70,100. Prior to her return to work in July, 2011 following her last maternity leave, Jauhal told Plaintiff by way of text messaging that she was "booking her into the hygienist schedule with patients booked Tuesday 8-3, Wednesday 8-3, Thursday 9-3, Friday 8-3". Thereafter began a series of events and interactions between Plaintiff and Jauhal that culminated in Plaintiff being fired on July 19/2011,hmm mmm At the time of Plaintiff's dismissal, Jauhal provided Plaintiff with a cheque for a severance payment in the sum of $7,605.50, indicating on the Record of Employment that it was representative of seven:Enable Editing #, weeks pay. Under the section of that document entitled "comments", Jauhal wrote as follows: *did not return to work on agreed date after end of maternity leave 1. Taking day sheets - personal patient information 2. Falsifying hours worked. Leaving at 3:15 signing out at 4:00 p.m. 3. Demanding to work thru (sic) lunch. Demanding to work hours not available. * Wilful neglect Plaintiff received this Record of Employment and severance cheque at the meeting during which she was terminated. Plaintiff returned the cheque to jauhal that same day- Jauhal testified that she amended the Record of Employment six days later s were so that the comment section then read: 1. Did not return to work on agreed date 2. Falsifying hours worked 3. Demanding to work thru (sic) lunch 4. Demanding to work hours not available 5. Taking home day sheets with personal patient information. Demonstrating wilful misconduct, disobedience, wilful neglect of duties. During Plaintiff's time as manager, and at her termination, there were approximately 10 employees working at Big Bay Point Dentistry. One of the primary dental hygienists was Jillian Caswell. Another hygienist was Meghan Johnston. Kristine Hubble was a dental assistant, as was Katie Ryckman. Cathy Petrie worked at the front reception desk. These latter two individuals, as well as Jillian Caswell, continue to be employed by Defendant and testified as witnesses. The dentistry office produced day sheets on a daily basis, which were kept in each operatory. The into practice of each employee varied; the day sheets were either posted on'a wall behind the patients while mindill treatment was being given, or on the inside of a cabinet door. They contained the patient's full name, want " treatment to be performed, and patient medical alerts, if necessary. They contained information for "approximately 40 patients each day. They were shredded at the end of each day to maintain patientcan contain viruses. Unless you need to e edit, it's safer to stay Enable Editing cunturica the putre treatment to be performed, and patient medical alerts, if necessary. They contained information for approximately 40 patients each day. They were shredded at the end of each day to maintain patient confidentiality. The computer software used by Defendant permitted the tracking of patient information such as patient names, contact information and scheduling details, as well as business financial reports. When she became the manager, Plaintiff was the only employee to know the secondary password to the system, which allowed access to all of the same information that was accessible to Jauhal. She was also given the code for the office safe, and the keys to the filing cabinet and the office itself. Documents such as resumes, employee reviews, and supplier information and statements were kept in the filing cabinet. A term of working for Defendant was that patient confidentiality was to be maintained by the employees. Allegations of Each Party Plaintiff alleged that she was promoted to the position of office manager in March, 2007, and that it was therefore a position that she held for three years and four months. Prior to her return from her secondFacts Not in Dispute At the time of trial, Plaintiff was 39 years of age. She is a dental hygienist by education and training. Plaintiff began her employment with Defendant in March, 2004. There was no written employment contract. Her employment was terminated on July 19, 2011, making her term of employment seven years and four months in length. During that time she had two maternity leaves. The first ran from June, 2007 to July, 2008, and the second from June, 2010 to July, 2011. Plaintiff was initially hired by Defendant as a dental hygienist. In 2007, her role changed to that of office manager. The parties are not in agreement as to the date on which Plaintiff assumed the position of office manager; Plaintiff's evidence was that it occurred in March, 2007, and her former employer's evidence was that it occurred in October, 2008. This issue will be revisited later., Defendant's sole director, officer and shareholder is Balbinder ("Bo") Jauhal. in 2002, Defendant opened the dental office at which Plaintiff came to work two years later, called Big Bay Point Dentistry. Jauhal was not consistently at the premises, as a result of operating other practices in other locations. She typically came to Big Bay Point Dentistry twice per week, for the morning. There were no written office policies or procedures. As the office manager, Plaintiff was responsible for the general operations of the practice, including managing patient bookings and staff schedules, answering phones, pursuing bad accounts, advertising for the practice, collecting and paying bills by cheque or corporate credit card (although Jauhal would sign the cheques), running advertisements for staff, interviewing, hiring and firing employees in collaboration with Jauhal, with Jauhal having the final decision, training staff, and dealing with maintenance issues. At the time of Plaintiff's termination, the office hours of Big Bay Point Dentistry were Monday to Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m, to 4 p.m.. The hygienists typically started at 10 a.m. The hygienists' hours were Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Between her date of hire as a hygienist and the day that she was given the position of office manager, Plaintiff's work hours were 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Friday. She earned $35 per hour as a hygienist. There was no guaranteed minimum number of hours; they ranged from 20 to 35 hours per week. As a hygienist sheldit with fol- the ism