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:
- Two weeks’ notice for an employee with at least three months of continuous employment but less than three years of continuous employment
- Three weeks’ notice for an employee with at least three years of continuous employment
- Four weeks’ notice for an employee with at least four years of continuous employment
- Five weeks’ notice for an employee with at least five years of continuous employment
- Six weeks’ notice for an employee with at least six years of continuous employment
- Seven weeks’ notice for an employee with at least seven years of continuous employment
- Eight weeks’ notice for an employee with at least eight years or more of continuous employment
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.
