For non-unionized employers in the province of Ontario there is
a requirement to provide notice of termination of employment to
most employees. This notice can be "working notice", that
is providing a date that the employment will end, or it can be
"pay in lieu of notice". Both the working notice period
and the amount of pay is governed by a number of factors, the most
important of which is length of service.
In the circumstances that an employer no longer has sufficient
work to keep a staff member employed, the employer can put into
effect a temporary lay-off. An employer does not necessarily have
to specify a return date for a lay-off to be temporary and neither
written notice nor a reason have to be provided.
