When an employer terminates an employee without just cause in
Ontario, it must either provide reasonable notice of the
termination, or payment in lieu of notice. The length of the
requisite notice period is based on several factors under common
law, including age, character of his employment, and length of his
service.
Under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), two
companies may be treated as one where the intent or effect of their
carrying on related business under common control has been to
directly or indirectly defeat the intent and purpose of the
ESA.
The common law has developed a more confined, "common
employer doctrine" to deal with such situations. But, unlike
under the ESA, it matters not whether the intent or effect was to
avoid severance obligations. Instead, the courts endeavor to
determine whether the alleged common employers could each be said
to have been the employee's employer.
