Ontario Employment Lawyer for Wrongful Dismissal

What is an Employment Termination Severance Package?

When a company terminates employment, it usually provides the employee with documentation it asks the employee to review, sign and send to it to finalize the termination process.

For an employment relationship, there are typically one of three ways:

an employee resignation (“I quit”)
a termination of employment (termination for just cause or termination without cause)
frustration of the employment contract

Put simply, if the employer wants to terminate employment, it usually sends an employee a severance package, which consists of a:

termination letter
full and final legal release

Employee Severance Package

In order to entice an employee to resolve the termination without any issues or disputes, an employer typically offers an employee a specific amounts of notice of termination (or severance pay). Why? Because if an employer does not have just cause to terminate an employee’s job, they are required under common law (judge-made legal rules) to let the employee know ahead of time so they can: (a) earn income to sustain their personal lives, while they (b) have enough time and opportunity to look for new employment.

In a wrongful dismissal claim, the main dispute is usually about the employer not providing the employee with an appropriate severance package – that is, not enough reasonable notice of termination or severance pay. To ensure a wrongfully dismissed employee is treated properly, an experienced employment lawyer in Toronto can assist with negotiating a severance package directly with a wrongful dismissal defence lawyer. If the severance package negotiations are not successful, an employment lawyer can assist a wrongfully dismissed employee with a court wrongful dismissal claim to obtain a fair severance package.

It is important to note that the amount or value of a severance package depends on whether or not the employee has signed an employment contract with a valid termination clause. If so, an employer will usually attempt to limit the amount of a severance package to the minimum amount of notice of termination (or termination pay), benefits continuation and severance pay required by the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000. If not, then the employee is generally entitled to maximum severance pay required under common law, which depends on an assessment of the employee’s age, years of service, position and general economic conditions impacting their ability to find a comparable job at the time of termination.

The Basics about Severance Packages in Ontario Employment Law

When an employer attempts to settle a dispute with a former employee who claims they were wrongfully dismissed, it will usually ask the employee to consider and accepting a severance offer and sign a legal release. The purpose of legal release is to confirm the employee will never sue the employer with respect to issues involving their employment, such as claiming wrongful dismissal, workplace harassment, and so on. Once signed, it means the parties have agreed to make their settlement legally binding – in other words, a legally enforceable contract.

Call an Employment Lawyer in Toronto

For an employee who believes they were wrongfully dismissed, it is important to speak with an experienced Toronto wrongful dismissal lawyer as soon as they are told by an employer that their employment will be terminated. If you are an employee who believes you have been wrongfully dismissed and the decision to terminate was unjust or discriminatory, please speak with our experienced wrongful dismissal lawyer in Toronto regarding your options, including negotiating your severance package to obtain the severance compensation you deserve, as well as wrongful dismissal claim.

Contact us by phone 647-822-5492 or fill out the contact form to the side. Our employment lawyer in Toronto would be happy to assist in your employment law matter as quickly as possible.

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