Effective February 1, 2024, federally-regulated employees subject to the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) will be entitled to increased termination notice, or pay, upon termination without cause.
Currently, a federally-regulated employee who is terminated without cause, and who has completed at least three months of continuous employment, is entitled to two weeks of notice or pay in lieu of notice. The amount of notice does not currently increase with additional years of service, as is the case with provincially-regulated employees. This changes on February 1, 2024.
The amendments will bring the Code in line with most provincial employment legislation, which provide greater notice entitlements to longer-serving employees. The new notice entitlements are as follows:
The notice can be provided as working notice, pay in lieu, or a combination of both. If pay in lieu is provided, the amount is calculated by providing the employee with the wages they would have earned during the notice period. As before, these termination entitlements do not apply if an employee is terminated for just cause.
In addition, the new amendments require an employer to provide a terminated employee with a written statement which outlines the employee’s entitlement to vacation, wages, severance pay, and other benefits arising from their termination.
If you have any questions about this article, please contact your Harris lawyer.
