Pointe Finale! Calculation of "Payroll" for Severance Purposes Not Limited to Just Ontario: Divisional Court

Section 64(1)(b) of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 requires an employer who severs an employment relationship with an employee to pay severance pay to the employee if: (a) the employee was employed by the employer for five years or more; and (b) the employer “has a payroll of $2.5 million or more.”

The question of how to calculate the employer’s payroll, specifically whether one is to consider the employer’s global payroll or only the employer’s Ontario-based payroll has (for some reason) continued to be a source of confusion.

In Hawkes v. Max Aicher (North America) Limited, 2021 ONSC 4290 (CanLII), the Ontario Divisional Court (Dambrot, Lederer and Favreau J.J.) has finally, hopefully, laid the question to rest.

Pregnant Employees are Entitled to Greater Notice of Dismissal

Is a pregnant woman entitled to a greater amount of notice of her dismissal than other employees? Does firing an employee while she is pregnant merit an award of punitive damages?

At least one Ontario Superior Court judge has said yes to both questions.