An Ontario court has awarded a fired worker five-and-a-half months’ pay in lieu of notice after less than five months of service.
“There’s this acknowledgment that being terminated after short service is going to lead to uncomfortable conversations that may make it harder to find a new job,” says Tim Heneghan, an employment lawyer at Zubas Flett Law in Toronto. “And I think that was among the biggest factors in bumping up the notice period – it’s related to that availability of similar employment factor, that you’re going to have to justify yourself and explain yourself a bit more, and there should be a lengthening of the notice period as a result of that.”
CF+D Custom Fireplace Design (CF) is a custom fireplace designer and manufacturer in Burlington, Ont. In early 2016, CF’s president met the worker on flights to and from Florida. The worker was employed as a senior project manager with another company, but the meeting led to discussions about the worker possibly joining CF.