The Ontario Superior Court of Justice's decision in
Paquette v. Quadraspec Inc. addresses two important issues
that employers face: (1) how to properly draft an employment
agreement in accordance with the notice provisions in Ontario's
employment standards legislation (the Employment Standards Act,
2000, ("ESA")); and (2) whether an employee is
entitled to severance pay in addition to termination pay upon
termination under the ESA.
The interpretation of the wording of termination provisions in
employment agreements is not a novel issue. The Supreme Court of
Canada and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice have both
previously held that employment agreements that do not provide the
minimum notice requirements under the ESA are null and void and
therefore entitle the employee to common law notice (see the
Supreme Court of Canada's 1992 decision in Machtinger v.
HOJ Industries and the more recent Ontario Superior Court of
Justice decisions in Stevens v. Sifton
