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In Canada, is there a federal law of how much notice period an employer can demand? I thought the standard was 2 weeks, but then re-reading the fine print in the offer letter, I see it says : You agree to provide XXX with 4 weeks of notice.

It does not say what happens if you give only 2 weeks.

So if new employer is not willing to wait 4 weeks but will wait only 2 weeks, what are my options? And consequences? Is there a chance of loss of pay?

Chris W. Rea
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Victor123
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3 Answers3

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It depends on your employer.

They may not care to pursue matters if you don't give enough notice. They might be happy to see you go. Or they might be really sad to see you go, but not feel like they need to punish you. Or they might be really angry to see you go, and decide that they want to punish you to the full extent of the law just out of spite.

Essentially, we can't tell you that, because different employers will behave differently.

My advice? Be a mensch. Give the old employer as much notice as humanly possible so that they can find, hire, and train your replacement. Leave on as good terms as possible. Don't burn bridges. Chances are your new job can wait for another week or two.

Joel Spolsky
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When I was pursuing my Business Degree in Canada we were told the standard notice period is 2 weeks on both sides.

This means your employer is required to give you at least two weeks notice and you are required to give it as well. If you violate your notice requirement the employer can sue you for lost revenues and etc. for that time period. The converse side is if your employer failed to provide you with sufficient notice you could sue for lost wages for that time frame as well.

I'm sure you can contractually agree to more than the legal minimum of two weeks.

Frazell Thomas
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It's provincial jurisdiction, so it can vary by province. In Manitoba, it's different when an employee quits vs. being terminated:

Quiting:

  • Employed at least thirty days but less than one year: one week
  • Employed at least one year: two weeks

Being terminated:

  • Employed at least thirty days but less than one year: one week
  • Employed at least one year and less than three years: two weeks
  • Employed at least three years and less than five years: four weeks
  • Employed at least five years and less than ten years: six weeks
  • Employed at least ten years: eight weeks

Edit:

At least in Manitoba, according to the above link, an employer can't set different notice periods.

Effective April 30, 2007, employers cannot have alternate notice policies. A notice policy set under the previous legislation is not valid. The only exclusion is a unionized workplace, where a collective agreement has a probationary period that is one year or less.

Ontario, on the other hand doesn't have anything legislated about resignation notice except under a couple very specific circumstances. This leaves it open for contracts to put in place their own requirements. In this case, you can be sued for provable losses (minus the savings from not having to pay you.)

Eclipse
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