New Ontario Divisional Court Decision Regarding Severance Pay June 23 2021

The Ontario Divisional Court’s recent decision in the Doug Hawkes v. Max Aicher (North America) Limited, (“Hawkes”) case finds that severance pay calculations may be not restricted to Ontario payroll.

The finding in this case contradicts previous decisions from the Ontario Labour Board where only Ontario payroll was used to calculate the $2.5 million threshold.

This new decision means that Ontario employers that have operations outside of the province or are related to other companies will need to consider their global payroll when determining severance pay obligations.

For more information on employment legislation in your area, please refer to our Laws tab or submit a ticket through the OnDemand portal.

Source: Lexology