In the world of employment law, terminations tend to steal the spotlight. But what about when the employee is the one ending the employment relationship?
Here is an overview of the law of resignation, and what employers need to know when they receive an employee’s “two weeks’ notice”.
Mitigation issues can save an employer months of termination pay and/or gut your termination case, depending on whether you are the employer or employee in a dispute. But what exactly is mitigation? This post sets out the basics. 
Employers have another reason to worry about their termination clauses.
Following the case of Waksdale v Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391, Ontario courts have placed increased scrutiny on termination clauses with very few surviving.
As lawyers who practice for both employers and employees, we know that terminations are rarely pleasant for anyone involved. After all, as the Courts have acknowledged, employment is an essential component of identity, self-worth and emotional well-being.
More recent Court rulings have reminded us that the manner in which employment can be terminated is equally important and impactful to the employee as the employment once was.
During 2023, we saw the Ontario Court of Appeal uphold two decisions awarding notice periods beyond what was believed to be the “24-month cap” at 27 and 30 months respectively.
In another recent Ontario decision, the Court awarded 5.5 months of pay in lieu of notice to an employee with only 5 months of service prior to dismissal, which is significantly higher than the “one month per year” rule of thumb. These decisions create uncertainty for employers given the wide range of potential liability arising from wrongful dismissal claims. Fortunately, there are proactive measures employers can take to avoid this liability.
Woohoo! Mandatory policies, postings, training, legally enforceable contracts… Actually, no client has ever told us they LOVE thinking through legal compliance for their workplace. Rather, it’s the thing you have to do on top of the other revenue-generating tasks to keep the lights on.
For owner-operator employers, there is often no one to delegate this to. The internet is full of best practices and comprehensive lists of what to do, but it all eats up your time to figure out.
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In the world of employment law, terminations tend to steal the spotlight. But what about when the employee is the one ending the employment relationship?…
Employers often wonder how to handle requests for leaves of absence from employees. This requires understanding the various options available depending on the terms of…
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