There are a number of legal issues to consider, including whether there are sufficient circumstances to prove just cause, the effect of any employment agreement, and the amount of notice of termination or pay in
lieu of notice required by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the common law.
Not exact matches
Absent a serious fault (in Quebec) or just cause for dismissal, minimum statutory written
notice or pay in
lieu of notice, is
required for every terminated employee with more than three consecutive months (in British Columbia and Quebec), or three months (in Ontario and Alberta)
of service on a scale increasing with service up to at least eight weeks
of notice.
The ESA
requires only that the employer provides
notice of termination or pay in
lieu of notice to the employee and, if the employee is eligible, severance pay.
All pay in
lieu of notice will be subject to all
required tax withholdings and statutory deductions.
An employee who is terminated without cause is not
required to mitigate his or her loss when his or her employment contract specifies a fixed term
of notice or pay in
lieu and the employment contract is silent with respect to mitigation.
Where
notice is not given, the employer is
required to pay damages in
lieu of notice, but that requirement is subject to the employee making a reasonable effort to mitigate the damages by seeking an alternate source
of income.
The Court
of Appeal held that failure to sign did not constitute grounds for dismissal and if the employer wished to dismiss its employees who refused to sign, pay in
lieu of reasonable
notice was
required.
Her employment was governed by a written contract, which stated that she would be
required to complete a six month probationary period, and that, at any time, she could be dismissed for cause without
notice or pay in
lieu of notice.
The employer did not provide any
notice or pay in
lieu of notice in reliance on a probationary clause in Mr. Ly's offer
of employment which read, in its entirety, that «[e] mployees are
required to serve an initial probationary period
of six (6) months for new positions».
The fact that the court may sometimes
require an employee to receive his pay in
lieu of notice as a continuation
of salary, as happened in the Markoulakis case, highlights an important takeaway for employees.
In most cases, 30 days»
notice or 30 days» pay in
lieu of notification is
required.
She was paid approximately $ 45,690, representing eight weeks statutory pay in
lieu of notice and the minimum severance pay
required under the Employment Standards Act.
The Court rejected the appellant's reliance on the Ontario Court
of Appeal's decision in Roden v. Toronto Humane Society.12 In Roden the Court enforced a contract that provided the employee would be provided with the minimum amount
of notice «or payment in
lieu thereof as
required by the applicable employment standards legislation.»
With respect to entitlement on termination
of employment, the employment contract provided as follows for a without - cause termination: Regular employees may be terminated at any time without cause upon being given the minimum period
of notice prescribed by applicable legislation, or by being paid salary in
lieu of such
notice of as may otherwise be
required by applicable legislation.
Recourse
of failure to provide
notice requirements for group termination in addition to any individual
notice of termination or payment
of severance in
lieu thereof
required to be given under the Act will also be amended.
The employer argued the total amount
of notice and pay in
lieu of notice that he had provided exceeded the statutory
notice and severance requirements and he was not
required to pay any additional amount.
At trial, the judge held the contract
of employment had not been frustrated due to the employee's failure to obtain the legally
required licence, and the casino was obligated to provide pay in
lieu of notice of dismissal.
Employers often offer less pay in
lieu of notice than the courts would
require them to.
Where there is just cause, termination, no
notice, or payment in
lieu of notice is
required.
Currently, where an employee provides more
notice than
required and an employer wants to pay out the employee, the employer must provide pay in
lieu to the end
of the termination
notice period that the employer would have been
required to give the employee.
The «narrow Norton Tool principle» was that it is good IR practice to pay in
lieu of notice in full, not
requiring the employee to give credit for any alternative earnings during the
notice period.
If you request to be on our mailing list or register for one
of our educational programs we may use your email address to send you related
notices (including any
notices required by law, in
lieu of communication by postal mail).