So you’ve just been terminated and the employer wants you to sign off on a package. What are you supposed to do next? Well of course my answer is call an employment lawyer, but I want you to understand why.

First, there is no easy way to determine your entitlements at common law to notice. It is based on your age, seniority, level of responsibility, health status, job market and a variety of other factors. The idea that you can go online and use some sort of reasonable notice calculating program is silly and misleading. You need to talk to a specialized employment lawyer about your particular situation. Sometimes terminated employees try to negotiate with their employer without a lawyer. When that employer asks their lawyer how generous their response should be, they are often told to lowball the employee. If they were not prepared to hire a lawyer, the employer can get away with paying less. The employee, in the absence of appropriate legal advice, will never know they are receiving less than they might have got.

Many employers write letters referring to contracts signed years ago that appear to limit you to a certain formula on termination or to the Employment Standards Act of Ontario minimums. As a result of case law changes in the last few years, the vast majority of those contracts are null and void. They do not limit your entitlement. You are entitled to reasonable notice at common law. Even one word in the wrong place can nullify those provisions. Without...

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