Ontario workplace laws represent a balancing act between two parties: the employer and the employee. However, Ontario workplace laws are heavily slanted towards employee-protection. This means that if an employee finds himself or herself in a precarious work situation, Ontario workplace laws will likely have some sort of redress mechanism favourable to the employee.

A solid part of our practice is dedicated to situations where an employee is not formally dismissed from their job but where their job environment becomes so intolerable that the employee wants to quit. This typically occurs when there is employment harassment and bullying or where the employee faces a reduction in pay, or a demotion.

Any one of the aforementioned circumstances may provide an employee the right to assert constructive dismissal. Plainly speaking, “constructive dismissal” means that an employee is terminated from his or her job through the conduct of their employer without the employer formally terminating them. This also means that the employee will be entitled to receive compensation identical to the one he or she would get in the event of actual job dismissal. Under certain circumstances, employment law severance pay could be as high in value as 24 months, and it would consist of base salary, bonuses, benefits, commissions, etc.