Outdated contracts are creating costly and avoidable termination liability across Canada, says HRD Employment Law Masterclass Canada speaker
If your employment contracts haven’t been reviewed since the Waksdale decision in 2020, you’re likely sitting on unquantified liability. That’s the message from Jordan Epstein, employment lawyer and partner at Gowling WLG in Ottawa, who’s set to lead a session titled “You Think You’re Safe – You’re Not: Termination Clauses, Cause and Litigation Risk” at the HRD Employment Law Masterclass Canada on Sept. 29, 2026. His premise is pointed: what looks enforceable on paper often is not – and the cost of finding that out at termination is rising fast, says Epstein.
The 2020 Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391 – confirmed final when the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal in January 2021 – fundamentally changed how employment agreements must be read, according to Epstein. The court found that if any part of an employer's termination scheme violates the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the entire termination framework is void. That means a single defective for-cause clause can nullify an otherwise compliant without-cause provision, even if the two are separate sections of the same contract.
The ruling wasn’t a surprise to those watching the courts closely, says Epstein. "Even before Waksdale, which was the COVID era of 2020, the decisions that had been released at...
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