By now we all know that an employer in Ontario can terminate any
employee at any time without just cause, so long as the termination
is not due to any discriminatory reasons, and so long as the
employee receives proper notice of termination. If an
employer is not comfortable with having an employee remain in the
workplace during their reasonable notice period, they have the
option to end the employment relationship immediately, by giving
the employee pay in lieu of actual notice. But what happens
when it is the employee who gives advanced notice of their own
resignation?
This question was recently addressed by the Supreme Court of
Canada in Quebec (Commission des norms du travail) v.
Asphalte Desjardins Inc. (2104 SCC 51). The employee
was Daniel Guay, and he had been working in Quebec for Asphalte
Desjardins since 1994. He gave his employer notice on
February 15, 2008 that he would be leaving as of March 7, 2008 to
take a higher paying job with a competing
