Employment Law

What is 'Just Cause' for Termination?

What is 'Just Cause' for Termination?

In Ontario, an employer is legally entitled to terminate the employment of its employee for ‘just cause’. If an employee is terminated for cause, the employer is not obligated to pay the employee statutory termination or severance pay under the Employment Standards Act or any pay in lieu of notice under the common law. Essentially, an employee who is terminated for just cause is not entitled to any notice.

Court of Appeal: A Dispute Over Bonus Pay Not Necessarily a Constructive Dismissal

On March 21, 2017, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its decision in Chapman v. GPM Investment Management, 2017 ONCA 227.  The decision includes an interesting statement on the law of constructive dismissal.  In a nutshell, the court stated that a "disagreement regarding the calculation of a bonus is not necessarily constructive dismissal”.