Applicant's case leaned heavily on letters sent to U.S. border and immigration authorities
An Ontario tribunal has rejected a bid for termination pay, ruling that letters describing a contractor as an employee for U.S. immigration purposes didn't reflect the real working relationship.
In an Aug. 17, 2026 decision, Ontario Labour Relations Board vice-chair Allan Kaufman dismissed an application brought by the applicant against S&T Automation Controls Ltd., finding he had worked as an independent contractor throughout the relationship and was not owed any termination pay.
The applicant began working for S&T in June 2021, hired verbally at $51 an hour to provide engineering services, with no contract, letter or email setting out whether he was an employee or a contractor.
Throughout the relationship, the applicant's personal corporation invoiced S&T monthly for his pay, adding HST and expenses. No income tax, Canada Pension Plan or employment insurance premiums were deducted from those payments, a pattern the board later called indicative of a contractor arrangement, though not conclusive on its own.
An employment standards officer who first reviewed the applicant's complaint found he had started as a contractor but became an employee partway through 2023, then was dismissed Dec. 5, 2023, too soon under section 54 of the Employment Standards Act to trigger any termination pay. That refusal prompted the applicant's request for the...
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