Termination Provision Not Perfect? Recent Cases May Help

The enforceability of contractual termination provisions can be a contentious issue when they limit an employee's entitlements in the event of a termination without cause to the bare statutory minimum.  Canadian courts have often declared such provisions to be unenforceable due to technical deficiencies (see for example our previous blog post on this topic). In such cases, employees are awarded payment in lieu of reasonable notice at common law (which almost always exceeds the statutory minimum). There have, however, been two decisions (one in Ontario and one in British Columbia) that seem to indicate an employer-friendly change in direction.  These cases are discussed below:

Ontario