In its December 2018 decision in Doug Hawkes v. Max Aicher
(North America) Limited (Hawkes), the Ontario Labour Relations
Board (OLRB) addressed the issue of whether an employer's
global payroll should be considered in determining an
employee's entitlement to severance pay under the
Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the ESA).
As Ontario employers are aware, section 64 of the ESA requires
an employer who terminates an employee's employment without
cause to provide an employee with severance pay, where the employee
has five or more years of service and the employer has a payroll of
at least $2.5 million.
Since the Ontario Superior Court's decision in Paquette
v. Quadraspec Inc. (Paquette), there has been some question as
to whether, for the purposes of determining the $2.5 million
threshold, the calculation of an employer's payroll should be
restricted to its payroll in Ontario or whether the payroll outside
of Ontario must also be considered.
