Terminated in Ontario? Read This Before You Sign the Severance Offer

Losing a job is disorienting, and termination packages are built to be signed quickly: a deadline at the bottom, a release attached, and a number that sounds reasonable in the moment. Before you sign anything, it is worth understanding what Ontario law actually entitles you to, because the gap between the first offer and the real entitlement is often measured in months of pay.

Two very different numbers

The Employment Standards Act sets minimums: up to eight weeks of notice or pay in lieu based on length of service, plus severance pay in certain cases involving long service and larger employers. Many offers are built on these minimums. But unless a valid employment contract limits you to them, the common law entitles most employees to reasonable notice, assessed on age, position, length of service, and the availability of similar work. Common-law notice frequently runs several times the statutory minimum, particularly for older employees, senior roles, and long service.

The contract question

Whether you are limited to the minimums usually turns on the termination clause in your employment contract, and Ontario courts have struck down a great many of them for failing to comply with the ESA. A clause that looked airtight when signed may be unenforceable today, which restores your full common-law entitlement. This is precisely the kind of technical question a lawyer can answer quickly, and it can change the value of your package dramatically.

What to do in the first 48 hours

Do not sign or negotiate on the spot. Take the package home. Note deadlines but do not be intimidated by them; short deadlines are a pressure tactic and are routinely extended when counsel gets involved. Gather your contract, recent pay statements, and any bonus or commission plans. Keep applying for work and keep records: you have a duty to mitigate, and your job-search records support your claim rather than hurting it. Then have the package reviewed. Most employment lawyers, ourselves included, will assess a severance offer at an initial consultation at no charge.

If your employment has ended, or your employer has changed your job so fundamentally that it feels like it has, contact Sohail Law Group for a free, confidential consultation.