A termination package often combines different legal obligations into a single offer. Some amounts may be owed regardless of whether the employee signs anything.
Other amounts may be offered only if the employee signs a full and final release.
Before
Ontario employers have specific duties when workplace harassment is reported. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), an employer must maintain a workplace-harassment program and ensure that an investigation appropriate in the circumstances is conducted into incidents and complaints of workplace harassment.
An
A termination can happen without advance warning and still be lawful. For most non-unionized employees in provincially regulated Ontario workplaces, an employer may terminate employment without cause if it satisfies the employee’s contractual and statutory rights and, where applicable, common-law notice obligations.
The employer
Ontario law does not create a separate statutory leave called “paternity leave.” Instead, the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) gives eligible parents an unpaid, job-protected parental leave. That right can apply to fathers, adoptive parents, same-sex spouses or partners and
“Severance package” is commonly used to describe any payment offered when employment ends.
Ontario employment law uses more precise categories. Termination pay and statutory severance pay are separate entitlements under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 [ESA]. Many employees may also
A serious workplace change can force an employee into a difficult legal position.
Resigning immediately may allow the employer to characterize the departure as voluntary. Continuing to work without objection may support an argument that the employee accepted the new terms.
The correct
Being on long-term disability leave does not make an employee immune from termination. It does, however, make the termination legally sensitive.
An Ontario employer cannot terminate employment because of disability, medical leave or the need for accommodation. If disability was a factor in the
A layoff without severance can be lawful in some situations. In many others, it is a termination or constructive dismissal dressed up as a layoff.
In Ontario, the result depends on the facts. The key issues are whether the layoff
Employees often describe repeated criticism, exclusion, yelling, humiliation or undermining as workplace bullying. In Ontario, the legal issue is not the label. The legal issue is whether the conduct meets a recognized legal standard.
Workplace harassment has a specific
A for-cause termination is one of the most serious positions an employer can take. It usually means the employer is refusing to provide notice, termination pay, statutory severance pay or a severance package.
That position should not be accepted at
