TERMINATION
Hello, and welcome to MOL Radio.
In today's employment standards information segment, we're going to discuss termination of employment. There are a number of ways people refer to termination of employment … "let go" "discharged" "dismissed" "fired" "permanently laid off."
Under the Employment Standards Act, a person's employment is terminated if the employer:
• dismisses or stops employing an employee. This includes cases where an employee is no longer employed due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of the employer;
• "constructively" dismisses an employee and the employee resigns, in response, within a reasonable time; or,
• lays an employee off for a period that is longer than a "temporary layoff".
An employer is not required to give an employee a reason why his or her employment is being terminated. There are, however, some situations where an employer cannot terminate an employee's employment even if the employer is prepared to give proper written notice or termination pay.
For example, an employer cannot end someone's employment, or penalize them in any way, if any part of the reason is based on the employee exercising a right under the Employment Standards Act. These include rights such as refusing to work in excess of the daily or weekly hours of work maximums, or taking a leave of absence specified in the act.
In most cases, if the employee has been continuously employed for three months, the employer must provide the employee with either written notice of termination, termination pay or a combination. The notice and the termination pay together must equal the length of notice the employee is entitled to receive.
The length of notice depends on the length of employment.
Our website at ontario.ca - forward slash - employment standards - one word - will give you the details of how much termination notice or pay you are entitled to.
In certain situations employees are not entitled to notice of termination or termination pay.
Some examples include employees who are guilty of wilful misconduct, disobedience, or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned by the employer. Other examples include construction employees, employees on temporary layoff, employees who refuse an offer of reasonable alternative employment, and employees who have been employed less than three months.
A constructive dismissal may occur when an employer makes a significant change to a fundamental term or condition of an employee's employment, without the employee's actual or implied consent.
This can include situations where an employer makes changes to the employee's terms and conditions of employment that result in a significant reduction in salary. There could be a significant change in such things as the employee's work location, hours of work, authority, or position.
Constructive dismissal may also include situations where an employer harasses or abuses an employee, or an employer gives an employee an ultimatum to "quit or be fired" and the employee resigns in response.
Constructive dismissal is a complex and difficult subject.
For more information on constructive dismissal, or on notice of termination and temporary layoffs, or any other questions regarding your employment standards rights, please visit our website at Ontario.ca - forward slash - employment standards - that's one word.
Once again, Ontario.ca - forward slash - employment standards - that's one word.
Or, you may contact our Information Centre at 1-800-531-5551.
That's 1-800-531-5551.
That's it for this segment of MOL radio. Thank you for listening.