Termination without Cause: Is it legal in Ontario?

Whether you are an employee who has been fired from your job or an
employer who is thinking about terminating an employee’s contract, it is
important to know what you are going into to protect your right and avoid
violating any law.
In order to validly dismiss an employee, the employee must be accorded due
process by the employer. It requires that the employee be given notice of
termination and payment of corresponding severance pay.
The employer has a legal obligation to follow the employment laws when
terminating an employee. The employee may have a claim for wrongful
termination if the termination was illegal.
What does Ontario Law take on Termination?
There are two kinds of termination of employment in Ontario:
1. Termination with Cause
2. Termination without Cause
The Ontario's Employment Standards Act provides for guidelines in
terminating an employee. The act clearly sets out rights on termination of
employment and governs individual termination of employment.
The right of the employee includes the right to be terminated based on “Just
Cause”.
Just Cause Termination occurs when an employee's performance or conduct
becomes so intolerable that continued employment is no longer tenable.
The Ontario Employment Standards Act provides several standards of just
cause dismissal. Accordingly, the termination based on just cause requires
grave and serious employee misconduct which may include the following:

a) Wilful misconduct 
b) Disobedience 
c) Wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been
condoned by the employer
d) Sexual misconduct or harassment 
e) Fraud 
In order to qualify as just cause termination the following must be present:
a) There must be a prior warning given by employer to the employee on
the unacceptable conduct or performance
b) The employee's conduct must be so serious as to amount to gross
misconduct for which no other reasonable alternative exists.

Can you be terminated even without just cause?

Is it legal for an employer to terminate an employee for causes other than

performance-related violations, willful negligence, fraud, or harassment?

The answer is a clear YES, you can be legally terminated without cause.

In Ontario, the employer is given the right to put an end to its employee’s
work for no reason at all.

While the law requires for just cause in terminating an employee, the Ontario
Employment Standards Act also allows the termination of an employee
without cause.

The Ontario's Employment Standards Act defines "termination without cause"

as follows:
"Termination without cause" means the termination of an employee's
employment by an employer without good reason or by an employer who is
required to give notice under this Act.
A dismissal is considered to be without cause if it occurs in any of the
following circumstances:
A. the employer dismisses the employee or otherwise refuses or is
unable to continue employing him or her;
When an employer dismisses the employee or otherwise refuses or is unable
to continue employing him or her for whatever reason the law requires that
employer must provide an employee with the following relief prior to
termination:
A1. At least two weeks’ written notice of their intention to terminate an
employee. Or
 A2. In lieu of written notice, the employer must pay the employee two
weeks’ wages at the regular rate.

B. the employer constructively dismisses the employee and the

employee resigns from his or her employment in response to that
within a reasonable period; or

Constructive dismissal occurs when there is a significant change in

employment’s term or condition of work and as a result, continued
employment is rendered impossible and unreasonable. Constructive dismissal
is also present when there is a demotion in the rank or diminution in pay or
when a clear discrimination, insensibility, or disdain by an employer becomes
unbearable to the employee leaving the employee with no other option but to
quit.

The employee would have to resign in response to the change within a

reasonable period of time in order for the employer's actions to be considered
a termination of employment as provided by the Employment Standards Act.

C. the employer lays the employee off for a period longer than the
period of a temporary lay-off. 

Temporary Lay-Off

As a rule, a temporary lay-off is not to be considered as termination of

employment except when the period of lay-off exceeds the required period
provided by law.

Under the Employment Standards Act., a "temporary layoff" can last:

 not more than 13 weeks of layoff in any period of 20 consecutive weeks;

or
 more than 13 weeks in any period of 20 consecutive weeks, but less
than 35 weeks of layoff in any period of 52 consecutive weeks, where:
o the employee continues to receive substantial payments from the
employer;
or
 o the employer continues to make payments for the benefit of the
employee under a legitimate group or employee insurance plan
(such as a medical or drug insurance plan) or a legitimate
retirement or pension plan;
or
o the employee receives supplementary unemployment benefits;
or
o the employee would be entitled to receive supplementary
unemployment benefits but isn't receiving them because they are
employed elsewhere;
or
o the employer recalls the employee to work within the time frame
approved by the Director of Employment Standards;
or
o the employer recalls the employee within the time frame set out
in an agreement with an employee who is not represented by a
trade union;
or

What happened when an employer dismisses an employee without

cause?

If an employee has been constructively dismissed; laid off for a period longer
than the period provided by law, or the employer simply wants to end the
employment of that employee, the employer is considered to have terminated
the employee's employment without cause and therefore required to provide
relief as provided by Employment Standards Act as follows:

1. The employee must be given termination pay in lieu of notice.

Termination pay is a lump sum payment equal to the regular wages for

a regular work week. The amount of Termination pay to which the
employee is entitled shall be calculated as if the employee continued to
be employed for a period equal to the period of notice that should have
been given and was not. 

2. The employee should also earn vacation pay on their termination pay. 

3. The employee is also entitled to the benefits that the employee would
have been entitled to have the employee continued to be employed
 within the period provided in the notice including the payment of
whatever mandatory contributions.

Do you need advice on the termination of employment in Ontario?

If you are an employee who has been terminated without cause or an

employer planning to terminate an employee and are unsure of what to do
next, it is best that you move forward with knowledge of your rights and your
options. You do not want to be caught off guard so better be informed and
protect your rights.

Getting the service of a lawyer to review any documents related to

employment that you are requested to sign and one that will be able to explain
to you in plain language what each process means would be of great help.
If you need assistance, contact our firm today!
Our team of competent Lawyers will be there to guide you through the
process.