CHAUDHRI: Your employment questions answered

Executive employees want to know how to navigate terminations while business owners want to know how far their rights go

Published Jul 11, 2026  •  4 minute read

Executive employees want to know how to navigate terminations and business owners want to know how far their rights go in Ontario. Photo by Daniel Berehulak / Files /Getty Images

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The summer is here and our firm has seen a myriad of issues in the first half of the year.

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Naturally, executive employees want to know how to navigate terminations.

Business owners want to know how far their rights go, and how to cut their risk before facing an expensive claim.

Below are a few of the employment questions we heard most in the first six months of 2026.

Q. I was terminated for cause. There were no warnings and no investigation. I was shocked. In the end they said I was underperforming. Is that “cause”?

A. Almost certainly not. Terminating an employee for cause is considered the capital punishment in employment law. Employers must meet an exceedingly high bar to justify a for cause termination backed with strong, credible evidence.

Employers are responsible for proving cause, and the law presumes there is no cause until proven. That means any termination, by default, is considered to be not for cause and that employees generally are entitled to at least some pay when terminated.

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Poor performance rarely clears the high legal bar employers need to pass to prove cause. To rely on it, an employer usually needs to have set clear expectations, warned you in writing that your work was falling short, given you a real chance to improve, and told you your job was on the line. No warnings and no investigation make a cause claim very hard to defend. If the employer got it wrong, you are likely owed a termination payout, and possibly more for the way the termination was handled. For employers, best practice is to have the termination assessed by an employment lawyer before any decisions are made. For employees, best practice is to have the termination and its circumstances reviewed by an employment lawyer.

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Q. I was let go and my termination letter said I have no right to my bonus. Is that right?

A. This can depend on if you have a valid employment agreement or bonus plan. Even if you have these documents, sometimes employment agreements and bonus plans are unenforceable and you are still entitled to bonus after a termination.

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If your bonus was an integral part of your overall pay, you are generally entitled to it over your notice period, even after your termination.

The question revolves around what the employee’s bonus plan or clause says. A clause that requires you to be “actively employed” on the payout date is frequently not enough to take the bonus away, because during the notice period the law treats you as though you were still employed. Employers who assume the bonus simply vanishes on termination often get this wrong. Have the plan language reviewed. This is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes we see.

Q. I was terminated and handed a settlement letter. I was told I would not be paid my ESA minimums unless I signed a release. Is that allowed?

A. No. Your statutory minimums are yours by law. Termination pay, and severance pay (if applicable), under the Employment Standards Act are owed whether or not you sign anything. An employer cannot hold them hostage for a release. What a release can buy is money paid to you above the minimum entitlements and that is where the negotiation happens.

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Read carefully before you sign because that release usually asks you to give up your right to pursue the larger common-law severance you may be owed. Never sign away that right to collect something the law already guarantees you.

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For employees, settlement letters often include an additional gratuitous settlement offer. Always have this settlement offer reviewed before signing. Many opening offers sit at or near the statutory minimum, which is often far below what the common law would give you. What is fair depends on your age, your years of service, your position, and how long it will realistically take you to find comparable work. A tight deadline on the offer does not force your hand.

Q. I booked a vacation months ago. Now my employer has brought in a return-to-office policy that conflicts with it. Can I make them pay for my cancellation?

A. Usually not. Ontario has no law forcing an employer to repay travel costs when it changes its office policy. Whether you get reimbursed comes down to your contract, company policy, or the goodwill of your employer.

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An employer can generally decide when vacation is taken. Once it has approved your time off and you have booked it, clawing it back is a different matter. That, stacked on top of a return-to-office mandate, can feed a constructive dismissal argument, a change to your job so significant it breaks the contract. For employers, the safe play is simple: honour vacation you have already approved and bring in the office policy afterward. If you truly must reschedule, get the employee’s agreement and consider covering what they cannot recover. For a booked trip on its own, ask, but do not expect a cheque.

As we continue to move through 2026, employment law trends may change, leaving new questions to be answered. We will continue to watch these trends, and answer them here.

– This column was co-written by employment lawyer Sunira Chaudhri and her associate Samantha Khaouli. Have a workplace problem? Maybe I can help! Email me at [email protected] and your question may be featured in a future column. The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.

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