A notice period is required by an employer seeking to terminate an employee. Employers can either provide the employee with notice or pay that would have been earned had the employee worked throughout the notice period. When an employee is terminated without a notice or pay in lieu, this is a wrongful termination and a breach of the employment contract. The remedy is damages paid by the employer in the amount equal to the compensation that would have been earned by the employee during the reasonable notice period that is owed.
What about bonuses that would have been owed to the employee, but require the employee to be “actively employed” at the time the bonus is to be paid? A clause that requires ‘active employment’ during the time of payment does not apply in the case of wrongful dismissal. This was affirmed in the case of Paquette vs. TeraGo Networks Inc. (2016). Employees are generally entitled to bonuses that would have been paid during the notice period, regardless of whether or not the employee was actively working during the time. This is especially the case when bonus pay is essential to overall compensation (i.e. a significant proportion).
To gain a better understanding, it helps to review the Paquette (employee) vs. TeraGo Inc. case. Paquette was under an employment contract that required him to be “actively employed” at the time the bonus was to be paid. The bonus here was set to be paid every February for the previous year’s work. The judgement by the Superior Court of Justice awarded Paquette 17 months of damages for only base-salary and benefits. Paquette appealed this decision, arguing that he is also entitled to bonuses that would have been received had he actually worked for the duration of the notice time (17 months). The Court of Appeals (Ontario) awarded Paquette the bonus pay as well. Simply put, the notice pay is meant to place an employee in a similar position had there been no breach in the employment contract. Here, if Paquette was not wrongful dismissed, he would have collected his bonus at each payment date (February 2015 and 2016). In other words, Paquette had the right to work but was prevented from doing so as a result of the employer’s breach. For the year that Paquette did not work (2016), the bonus was calculated by taking the average of the previous years’ bonus payment.
If you are an employee that receives bonuses as an essential part of compensations (ie. a significant portion), then a clause requiring you to be employed at the time of bonus pay may leave you vulnerable if wrongfully dismissed. Employees in this situation are encouraged to seek legal advice to ensure you are fairly compensated for damages and are fully aware of your workplace rights.