Do You Legally Have To Give A Two Week Notice In Canada?
For many employees in Ontario, their employment contracts state that they must provide two weeks of notice when resigning from their position. However, do you legally have to give a two week notice in Canada?
Under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), there is no legal requirement that mandates employees to provide two weeks’ notice prior to resigning. There is no other legislation that imposes any similar requirements on employees. Employers may require employees to provide any amount of notice for resignation – it is not limited to two weeks.
What happens if an employee doesn’t give reasonable notice?
Employees should review their employment agreement to ensure that they are providing the proper notice period. The employee may be required to provide more than 2 weeks’ of notice based on the notice specified in the contract. If an employee does not give reasonable notice, an employer may take an employee to court for wrongful resignation. However, this is extremely rare – an employer must demonstrate that the employee’s decision not to give reasonable notice caused them financial harm.
What payments must an employer provide upon an employee’s resignation?
When an employee provides their notice of resignation, the employer must provide the employee with their final pay for all hours worked until the last day of employment, any accrued and unused vacation pay, and any eligible bonuses or commissions that you would have earned up to the resignation date. If an employer terminates an employee’s employment during the resignation period, the employer must provide the employee with compensation representing the remainder of the notice period that the employee would have completed. In other words, if an employee provides 4 weeks notice, and the employer terminates the employee after the employee works for 1 week after providing notice, they still have to pay the employee for the remaining 3 weeks that the employee would have worked.
How can Whitten & Lublin help?
If you have any questions regarding providing notice of resignation and your entitlements upon resignation, contact us for further information online or by phone at (416) 670 2667.
Author – Abby Leung