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When an employee gets terminated without cause in Ontario, their employer is typically required to provide them with working notice of termination or pay in lieu of notice. How notice is calculated is based on whether the employee is entitled to common law notice, statutory notice under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), or some …

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In the business world, “restructuring” is a term that often circulates in the corridors of large, publicly listed companies experiencing downward share prices. While it carries a technical veneer, at its heart, restructuring is a polite term for mass terminations. So, what drives companies to adopt this course of action, and what does it mean …

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Yes, if you were fired, your employer is free to say you were fired. However, if you were terminated without cause for no real reason or business reasons like downsizing, then your employer can’t tell that or imply that you were fired for cause for serious misconduct, otherwise it would be defamation. Accordingly, unless your …

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Unless they have a written employment contract that says otherwise, every employer in Ontario must give “reasonable notice” of their intention to terminate an employee when it is ‘without cause’. Employers can terminate employees in one of two ways: for cause or without cause. A for cause termination is very rare, and generally only stands …

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Until the late nineties, employees could, generally, only sue their employers for severance upon termination. There was, generally, no way for an employee to also sue his employer for the stress caused by especially harsh or “bad faith” conduct at the time of dismissal. Wallace Damages  Then, in 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada, in …

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What is the Difference Between “Termination Pay” and “Severance Pay” in Ontario? Termination pay vs severance pay is a common question we receive. It is no surprise that we receive so many questions about the difference between termination pay and severance pay as there appear to be a lot of misconceptions out there. The confusion …

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What is pay in lieu? For every “without cause” termination in Canada (and Ontario), an employer must provide “notice” of the employee’s impending dismissal. “Notice” is an advanced warning of the termination. Employers have a choice to provide notice in one of two ways: (1) working notice or (2) pay in lieu. Few employers provide …

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The History Of Unjust Dismissal The history of unjust dismissal is fascinating. For a hundred or so years, under the common law, non-unionized employees in Canada could be terminated without any reason if the termination was said to be “Without Cause”. The only remedy available was “Reasonable Notice” of the dismissal or “Pay in Lieu” …

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Being terminated for cause means the employee was terminated for serious incompetence or serious misconduct, and, accordingly, no notice (i.e. severance) must be given to the employee upon his or her dismissal. In addition, employees terminated for cause could be refused Employment Insurance (“EI”): Source Nevertheless, not every allegation of cause is truly cause. In …

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