An employment contract lawyer in Mississauga reviews, explains and negotiates employment agreements before you sign them and determines how the contract affects your rights if your job changes or ends.

An employment agreement can determine far more than your salary and vacation. It can limit severance, affect bonuses and commissions, create a probation period, address temporary layoffs, restrict what you can do after leaving and give your employer greater flexibility to change parts of your job.

Don’t wait until after you sign to discover what the agreement takes away. The employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can review a new job offer, a replacement contract from your current employer or an agreement your employer is relying on after termination.

⚠️ Don’t sign an employment agreement simply because your employer says it is “standard.” Termination, layoff, probation and post-employment clauses can materially affect your compensation and future rights.

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When Should You Call an Employment Contract Lawyer in Mississauga?

Speak with an employment contract lawyer before signing an agreement that can significantly affect your compensation, job security, severance or ability to work elsewhere.

A contract review is especially important when:

  • You have received a new job offer
  • Your current employer wants you to sign a replacement or revised contract
  • You are being promoted into a management, professional or executive position
  • A meaningful part of your income comes from bonuses, commissions, equity or stock options
  • The agreement contains a termination clause limiting severance
  • You are being asked to accept a probation period
  • The contract contains a non-solicitation or non-compete provision
  • You are accepting a fixed-term position
  • The employer wants broad authority to change your duties, hours or work location
  • You have been fired and your employer says the contract limits what you are owed

For the broader legal framework, read our guide to employment contracts in Ontario.

💡 Contract review is most useful while you still have a choice. Before signing, you can understand the risk and negotiate. After signing, the question often becomes whether the employer can legally enforce what you agreed to.

What Does a Mississauga Employment Contract Lawyer Review?

An employment contract lawyer identifies the clauses that matter financially and legally, explains their effect and determines which terms should be negotiated.

At Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, an employment contract review can address:

  • Salary and compensation: Base salary, commissions, bonuses, incentive plans, allowances and equity compensation
  • Termination clauses: What you receive when employment ends and whether the contract limits common-law severance
  • Probation: Whether the agreement actually creates a probation period and what happens if you are terminated during it
  • Job duties: How much authority the employer has to alter your title, responsibilities or reporting structure
  • Hours and work location: Whether your schedule, remote-work arrangement or workplace can be changed
  • Temporary layoffs: Whether the agreement gives the employer contractual authority to temporarily lay you off
  • Fixed-term employment: What happens if an agreement with a stated end date is terminated early
  • Post-employment restrictions: Non-solicitation, non-compete and confidentiality obligations
  • Resignation: How much notice the agreement requires if you choose to leave

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act creates minimum employment rights. An employment agreement can’t lawfully take those minimum protections away.

A contract can still reduce rights you would otherwise have under common law, particularly when employment ends. That is why understanding the agreement before signing matters.

Should a Lawyer Review Your Job Offer Before You Sign?

Yes, when the offer contains terms that can materially affect your severance, compensation or career options.

Most employees naturally focus on salary, title, vacation and benefits. Those terms matter, but some of the greatest financial consequences can be buried later in the agreement.

A termination clause that seems unimportant on your first day can determine whether you receive a few weeks of compensation or substantially more when the job ends years later.

Can an employment lawyer negotiate your contract?

Yes. An employment lawyer can identify which terms are worth negotiating and help you propose changes before accepting the offer.

Depending on the position, negotiations can address:

  • Termination and severance protection
  • Salary
  • Signing bonuses
  • Commission or bonus terms
  • Equity or stock options
  • Vacation
  • Remote or hybrid work
  • Probation
  • Non-solicitation restrictions
  • Recognition of previous service

Not every clause needs to become a negotiation. A lawyer can help you separate meaningful risks from provisions that don’t justify holding up the job offer.

Do you have to sign immediately?

No. Don’t sign an employment agreement on the spot simply because you feel pressure to respond quickly.

If the employer gives you a genuine acceptance deadline, arrange the review promptly. Signing first and trying to renegotiate afterward puts you in a much weaker position.

What If Your Current Employer Gives You a New Employment Contract?

Don’t sign a replacement employment contract until you know how it changes the rights you already have.

Employers often present new agreements when an employee receives a promotion, raise, bonus change or other workplace adjustment. A new contract can also be introduced even when the employee’s day-to-day job appears unchanged.

The proposed agreement can add new terms dealing with:

  • Reduced termination or severance rights
  • Temporary layoffs
  • Changes to duties or responsibilities
  • Changes to hours or work location
  • Non-solicitation restrictions
  • Bonus or commission eligibility

A new agreement introduced after employment has already started can also raise separate enforceability issues. Review both the existing contract and the proposed replacement so you can see what rights are changing.

⚠️ A promotion or raise can come with a contract that reduces your future severance. Don’t focus only on the new salary. Review what the agreement changes if the employment relationship eventually ends.

What if you refuse to sign?

Refusing to sign a new agreement does not mean you have resigned.

Your employer can decide whether it will continue the existing employment relationship. It can also choose to terminate employment without cause, in which case it must provide the notice or compensation you are legally owed.

Don’t resign simply because you disagree with the proposed agreement. Get advice about your existing rights and the employer’s stated position first.

How Can a Termination Clause Affect Your Severance?

An enforceable termination clause can substantially reduce the compensation you receive when your employer ends your employment.

Without an enforceable contractual limit, many non-unionized employees have common-law reasonable-notice rights that provide substantially more compensation than Ontario’s statutory minimums.

A properly drafted contract can limit those greater common-law rights. The wording therefore needs to be reviewed carefully both before you sign and after you are terminated.

Read our current guide to enforceable termination clauses in Ontario.

💡 2026 update: Ontario termination-clause law changed again in 2026. Don’t assume a clause is invalid because it contains a particular phrase. The agreement needs to be assessed as a whole under current Ontario law.

What if you’ve already been fired?

Have the employment contract reviewed again before accepting the employer’s severance calculation.

The fact that you signed an agreement years ago does not automatically mean every termination provision is enforceable.

If the contract validly limits your termination rights, it can affect what you receive. If it does not, common-law reasonable notice can apply instead.

Depending on factors such as your age, position, length of service and the availability of similar employment, severance can reach 24 months’ pay in appropriate cases.

Learn more about severance pay in Ontario. If you have already been terminated in Mississauga, our Mississauga wrongful dismissal lawyers can assess both the contract and the termination package.

⚠️ Don’t sign a termination release because your employer says the contract limits you to a few weeks of pay. Have the contract and severance package reviewed first. Once you sign a release, you usually can’t go back for more.

What Other Employment Contract Terms Should You Review?

Review any clause that affects your job security, compensation or ability to earn a living after leaving the employer.

Probation clauses

There is no automatic probation period in Ontario. Probation must be clearly written into your employment contract.

If your job offer says you will be on probation, check the length of the period and what the agreement says will happen if employment ends during that time.

Read our guide to the probation period in Ontario.

Non-compete clauses

Ontario prohibits most employers from entering into new non-compete agreements with employees.

The statutory ban applies to agreements entered into on or after October 25, 2021, subject to specific exceptions involving certain executives and qualifying business-sale arrangements.

If your job offer tries to stop you from working for a competitor after you leave, read our guide to non-compete clauses in Ontario.

Non-solicitation clauses

Non-solicitation clauses remain legally possible in Ontario and can restrict how you approach clients, customers or coworkers after leaving.

A written restriction is not automatically enforceable merely because you signed it. Its wording and scope matter.

Learn more about non-solicitation clauses in Ontario.

Fixed-term agreements

A fixed-term employment agreement deserves careful review because ending it before the stated expiry date can create significant compensation consequences.

Before accepting a one-year, two-year or project-based position, understand whether the contract permits early termination and what compensation is payable if the employer ends it early.

Bonuses, commissions and equity

Variable compensation needs careful review when it forms an important part of your income.

Check when bonuses or commissions are earned, whether the agreement requires active employment on the payment date, and what happens to equity or stock awards if employment ends.

Why Choose Samfiru Tumarkin LLP for an Employment Contract Review in Mississauga?

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP reviews employment contracts from the employee’s perspective: what you are receiving, what rights you are giving up and what happens if the employment relationship later ends.

Our employment lawyers can help non-unionized employees in Mississauga:

  • Understand an employment agreement in plain English
  • Identify clauses that materially affect compensation and legal rights
  • Review termination provisions under current Ontario law
  • Negotiate important terms before accepting a job
  • Assess a replacement contract from a current employer
  • Review non-solicitation and other post-employment restrictions
  • Determine how bonuses, commissions and equity can be affected by termination
  • Determine whether an employer can rely on the contract after firing you

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP assists employees throughout Mississauga and surrounding Peel Region communities, including Port Credit, Streetsville, Erin Mills, Clarkson and Malton.

What should you send for a contract review?

Send the complete agreement and any separate documents that form part of your employment terms or compensation package.

Useful documents include:

  • The employment agreement or job offer
  • Previous contracts with the same employer
  • Bonus or commission plans
  • Stock-option or equity documents
  • Confidentiality or restrictive-covenant agreements
  • Promotion or compensation letters
  • Emails explaining why a new agreement must be signed
  • A termination letter and severance package if your employment has already ended
⚠️ Unionized? Your employment terms are primarily governed by your collective agreement. Workplace disputes must be addressed through your union and the grievance process. Samfiru Tumarkin LLP’s employment law team can’t assist with unionized workplace disputes.

An employment contract can affect your income, job security, future career options and the compensation you receive when your job ends. Understanding the agreement before you sign gives you the opportunity to protect yourself while important terms can still be negotiated.

The Mississauga employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP help non-unionized employees in Mississauga review and negotiate job offers, assess new contracts introduced during employment and determine whether employers can rely on contractual restrictions after termination.

Before you sign a new job offer, accept a replacement agreement or agree that your employment contract limits your severance, contact Samfiru Tumarkin LLP and have the contract reviewed.

Before You Sign, Know What the Contract Means

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can review your employment agreement, identify terms that affect your rights and help you negotiate before you commit.

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