Law Times – Decision Confirms That Employers Cannot Give Working Notice to Employees Incapable of Working

An Ontario judge has ruled that a working notice period does not apply to an employee who is on disability leave.

Stan Fainzilberg says the decision is a reminder that employees can rely on their doctor’s advice even when disputed by an employer.

In McLeod v. 1274458 Ontario, Justice Kenneth Hood of the Ontario Superior Court ordered a delivery company to pay damages for a working notice period to a long-term employee unable to work during that time because of injuries sustained in a non-work-related car accident.

The damages represented the salary he would have earned had he worked during the notice period.

Lawyers say the decision confirms that employers cannot give working notice to employees incapable of working.

“The whole point is to give that person a cushion in terms of money and time so that it can soften the blow of the transition between jobs,” says Stan Fainzilberg, a lawyer with Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, who represented the employee.

Read more about the decision here in the Law Times.