Wrongful Dismissal - Canada

Canada

In Canadian law, absent a written contract which addresses how to end the employment relationship, the law implies into the employment relationship a term that it will not be ended without "reasonable notice" of its termination. The length of reasonable notice depends on a number of factors, best described by the Ontario Court in the 1960 decision of Bardal v. Globe & Mail:

There could be no catalogue laid down as to what was reasonable notice in particular classes of cases. The reasonableness of the notice must be decided with reference to each particular case, having regard to the character of the employment, the length of the service of the servant, the age of the servant and the availability of similar employment, having regard to the experience, training and qualifications of the servant.

An employer is entitled to dismiss an employee according to the terms of the employment contract. There are oral employment contracts, and written employment contracts, and combinations of oral and written employment contracts. In Canadian common law, there is a basic distinction as to dismissals. There are dismissals with cause, and dismissals without cause. Cause is employee behaviour that constitutes a fundamental breach of the terms of the employment contract. Where cause exists, the employer can dismiss the employee without providing any notice. If no cause exists yet the employer dismisses without providing lawful notice, then the dismissal is a wrongful dismissal. A wrongful dismissal will allow the employee to claim monetary damages in an amount that compensates the employee for the wages, commissions, bonuses, profit sharing and other such emoluments the employee would have earned or received during the lawful notice period, minus earnings from new employment obtained during the lawful notice period. In Canadian employment law, it has long been the rule that reinstatement is not a remedy available to either the employer or the employee - damages must be paid instead.

Although Canadian employment law provides some of the above remedies, each jurisdiction or country may treat employment law differently. It is important to determine which jurisdiction the employment occurs in or is regulated by, then seek appropriate legal advice relevant to that jurisdiction and its particular employment laws.