Pension Claims In Employee Termination Cases

A. Introduction

In Canada, when an employment relationship is terminated without cause, the employer must provide the terminated employee with reasonable notice or pay in lieu of notice. Employment standards legislation is in place to protect employees by way of minimum notice requirements. Legislation is supplemented by common law to further protect employees with the goal of putting the employee in the position that she would have been if she had worked through the notice period. Employment contracts are also used to provide certainty around the employment relationship, including with respect to obligations and entitlements at the time of termination of employment.

This paper will look at material employer obligations, specifically with respect to registered pension plans in the province of Ontario, that may arise when terminating an employee. Registered pension plans are highly regulated, complex and can be, from a dollar perspective, a significant part of an