When an employee is let go on a not for cause basis, employers must either give working notice or pay in lieu of notice, also known as severance.
Most employers prefer to provide severance and end the employment relationship immediately, but in other situations employers choose to give working notice instead. Here are some common questions I get as an employment lawyer about working notice.
What is working notice of termination?
When your employer terminates your employment with working notice, they advise you that your employment will end at a future date. For example, your employer could tell you today that your last day working with the company will be in six months.
The time between today and six months from today’s date is your working notice of termination. You are required to work during that time.
What happens if I don’t want to continue working during the notice period?
Many employees would rather get same-day notice of the termination of their employment and a severance package than receive working notice. This is particularly true when the working notice period is long.
Employees may be able to negotiate with their employer for severance instead of working notice. If, however, an employer insists on working notice and an employee refuses, they would forgo their severance and be deemed to have resigned.
READ MORE: What happens if your employer forces you to quit your job? An employment lawyer explains
Does my employer have to pay additional severance at the end of the notice period?
While the length of working notice is subtracted from what’s paid out in severance, I have found that employees are often owed additional compensation after that period of time has ended.
For instance, if someone with 27 years of service at a company is let go with three months’ notice, their employer could potentially owe them an additional 21 months’ pay in severance. I usually recommend that people talk to an employment lawyer after receiving working notice to find out if they might be entitled to additional compensation.
How much severance should an employee get?
An employee’s severance entitlements are determined by considering the employee’s length of employment, age and position.
The older the employee, the more senior or specialized their position, and the longer their length of employment with the company, the longer their working notice period, or the greater their severance, should be. But workers with relatively few months or years of service with a company may also be entitled to more substantial compensation than they might expect.
Depending on various factors, a severance package could amount to as much as 24 months’ pay.
READ MORE: The 5 facts you need to know about severance pay, according to an employment lawyer
Can my employer make changes to my job during the notice period?
An employer cannot unilaterally change the terms of an employee’s employment without an employee’s consent, whether it’s during their employment or during the working notice period.
If an employer makes unwanted changes, such as demotion or reduced compensation, it can amount to a constructive dismissal, and severance is owed.
READ MORE: HBC employee’s ‘status change’ a lesson in constructive dismissal: employment lawyer
Can I be terminated for cause during the notice period?
An employer can terminate an employee for just cause during the notice period only where the high threshold for just cause dismissal under the law is met. Employers cannot push an employee out during the working notice period where just cause has not been properly established.
Have you been provided working notice after being let go from your job? Are you trying to properly calculate the amount of severance pay owed to you?
Find out what you might be owed using Samfiru Tumarkin LLP’s free and anonymous severance pay calculator.
Contact the firm or call 1-855-821-5900 to secure assistance from an employment lawyer in Ontario, British Columbia or Alberta. Get the advice you need — and the compensation you deserve.
Hayley Rushford is an employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, Canada’s most positively reviewed law firm specializing in employment law and long-term disability claims. The firm provides free advice on Canada’s only Employment Law Show on TV and radio.