Legal Blog

Termination Provision in Employment Agreement

Rahman v. Cannon Design Architecture Inc. 2022 Ont CA

An employment agreement provided that the employer could terminate the employee’s employment without notice or payment if the employee engaged “in conduct that constitutes a just cause for summary dismissal.” That provision was contrary to the Employment Standards Act which excepts termination payment provisions under the Act only if the employee is guilty of “wilful misconduct, disobedience or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned.” In accordance with previous jurisprudence, once one of the termination provisions is held to be invalid, all of the termination provisions are invalid. Accordingly, the four weeks contractual notice provision did not apply and common-law notice was imposed.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.