An employment contract lawyer in Newmarket reviews and negotiates employment agreements before you sign them and determines how those terms affect your rights if your job changes or ends.

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

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) creates minimum rights that an employment agreement can’t take away. But a properly drafted contract can still reduce important common-law rights you would otherwise have—particularly your severance when employment ends.

Don’t sign first and ask what the agreement means later. 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 assume a contract is harmless because your salary and job title look right. Termination, bonus, layoff and post-employment clauses can have financial consequences that only become obvious years later.

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When Should You Call an Employment Contract Lawyer in Newmarket?

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

A legal review is especially useful when:

  • You have received a new job offer
  • Your current employer wants you to sign a new or replacement contract
  • A promotion or raise comes with a revised employment agreement
  • The contract contains a termination clause limiting severance
  • Bonuses, commissions, stock options or equity are an important part of your compensation
  • You are accepting a management or executive position
  • You are being asked to accept probation
  • The employer wants broad power to change your duties, schedule or work location
  • The agreement contains a non-solicitation or non-compete provision
  • You have already been fired and your employer says the contract limits your severance

For the underlying legal rules, read our guide to employment contracts in Ontario.

💡 Contract review has the greatest value before you sign. At that point, you can understand the risk and negotiate. Afterward, the question often becomes whether the employer can legally enforce the term you already accepted.

What Does a Newmarket Employment Contract Lawyer Review?

An employment contract lawyer identifies the terms that create meaningful financial or career consequences and explains what they mean before you agree to them.

At Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, a contract review can address:

  • Salary and compensation: Base salary, commissions, bonuses, allowances, incentive plans and equity
  • Termination clauses: What you receive when employment ends and whether the contract attempts to limit common-law severance
  • Probation: Whether probation applies and what the agreement says about termination during that period
  • Duties and authority: How much flexibility the employer has to alter your role, title or responsibilities
  • Hours and location: Whether the employer can change your schedule, office location or remote-work arrangement
  • Temporary layoffs: Whether the contract attempts to give the employer authority to temporarily lay you off
  • Bonuses and commissions: When compensation is earned and what happens if employment ends before payment
  • Fixed-term employment: What happens if the employer ends the agreement before its stated expiry date
  • Post-employment restrictions: Non-solicitation, non-compete, confidentiality and related obligations
  • Resignation: How much contractual notice you are expected to give if you leave

The purpose of a review isn’t to object to every paragraph. It is to identify the provisions that actually change your legal or financial position.

Should a Lawyer Review Your Job Offer Before You Sign?

Yes, especially when the agreement limits severance, contains restrictive terms or governs significant bonus, commission or equity compensation.

Most employees naturally focus on salary, title, vacation and benefits. Those terms matter, but some of the most expensive provisions in an employment contract only become relevant when the relationship ends.

A termination clause near the end of the agreement can determine whether you receive statutory minimum compensation or substantially greater common-law severance years later.

Can an employment lawyer negotiate your job offer?

Yes. An employment lawyer can identify the terms worth negotiating and help you propose practical changes before you accept the position.

Negotiations can address:

  • Guaranteed termination or severance protection
  • Salary
  • Signing bonuses
  • Commission or bonus terms
  • Equity or stock options
  • Vacation
  • Remote or hybrid work
  • Work location
  • Probation
  • Post-employment restrictions

Not every term needs to become a negotiation. A useful review distinguishes important risks from provisions that aren’t worth jeopardizing a good offer over.

Should you resign from your current job before the new contract is final?

Don’t resign from secure employment until you understand the new offer and are satisfied with the terms you are accepting.

Review any conditions attached to the offer, including background checks, references, start dates, compensation terms and documents the new employer expects you to sign.

If the employer says a more detailed agreement will follow, ask to see it before leaving your current position. Important termination or restrictive terms should not come as a surprise after you have already committed to the move.

What If Your Current Employer Asks You to Sign a New Contract?

Don’t sign a replacement agreement until you understand what rights it changes and what you are receiving in return.

A long-serving employee can already have significant contractual and common-law rights. A new agreement can attempt to reduce those rights by introducing an ESA-only termination clause, temporary-layoff provision, broader job-change language or new post-employment restrictions.

Ontario Court of Appeal law also recognizes that materially new contractual terms introduced after an employment relationship has already been formed can require fresh consideration—something new of legal value given to the employee in exchange for accepting those terms.

What can count as fresh consideration?

Fresh consideration means something new of value rather than simply receiving what you were already entitled to receive.

Whether a raise, bonus, promotion or another benefit is sufficient depends on the agreement and the circumstances. Have the existing contract and proposed replacement reviewed together so you can see what is being added—and what is being taken away.

⚠️ A raise or promotion can come with a contract that sharply reduces future severance. Don’t focus only on the compensation increase. Review the termination clause and other new restrictions before signing.

What if you refuse to sign?

Refusing to sign a proposed employment contract does not mean you have resigned.

The employer must decide how it wants to proceed. It can continue the existing relationship, make another proposal or end the employment relationship in accordance with the law.

Don’t resign because you disagree with the proposed terms. Have your existing agreement, the replacement agreement and the employer’s instructions reviewed first.

How Can a Termination Clause Affect Your Severance?

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

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

A properly drafted contract can validly limit those greater rights, but it can’t provide less than applicable ESA minimum entitlements.

Read our current guide to enforceable termination clauses in Ontario.

💡 2026 update: Don’t rely on old advice saying that “at any time” automatically invalidates an Ontario termination clause. The Ontario Court of Appeal has rejected that position. The clause must be read as a whole to determine whether it actually contracts out of the ESA or validly preserves the employee’s minimum statutory rights.

In Baker v. Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc., 2026 ONCA 568, the Court of Appeal confirmed that phrases such as “at any time” must be interpreted in the context of the complete agreement rather than automatically treated as unlawful.

What if you’ve already been fired?

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

Signing a contract does not prove that every termination term is enforceable. If the clause validly limits your rights, it can affect what you receive. If it doesn’t, common-law reasonable notice can apply instead.

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

Learn more about severance pay in Ontario.

⚠️ Don’t sign a termination release because your employer says the contract limits you to ESA minimums. Have the employment agreement and severance package reviewed first. Once you sign a release, you usually can’t go back and claim additional compensation.

What Other Employment Contract Terms Should You Review?

Review any provision that can affect your compensation, job security or ability to work elsewhere after leaving the employer.

Non-compete clauses

Ontario prohibits employers from entering into most new non-compete agreements with employees, subject to specific statutory exceptions. The exceptions include certain executives and qualifying agreements connected to the sale of a business.

If a proposed contract tries to prevent you from working for a competitor after you leave, read our guide to non-compete clauses in Ontario.

Non-solicitation clauses

Ontario’s ESA non-compete prohibition does not prohibit non-solicitation agreements. These clauses can restrict how you approach clients, customers or coworkers after employment ends, and their enforceability depends on the actual wording and legal context.

Learn more about non-solicitation clauses in Ontario.

Probation clauses

There is no automatic probation period in Ontario. A probation period should be clearly established in your employment agreement.

If an offer says you will be on probation, check its length and what the agreement says about termination during that period. See our guide to the probation period in Ontario.

Bonuses, commissions and equity

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

Check when a bonus or commission is earned, what happens if employment ends before a payment date and how stock options or other equity are treated after termination.

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

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 ends.

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

  • Understand employment agreements in plain English
  • Identify terms that create meaningful financial risk
  • Review termination clauses under current Ontario law
  • Negotiate important terms before accepting a job
  • Assess replacement contracts introduced during existing employment
  • Determine whether fresh consideration is required for new restrictions
  • Review bonus, commission and equity provisions
  • Assess non-solicitation and other post-employment restrictions
  • Determine whether an employer can rely on the contract after termination

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP assists employees throughout Newmarket, including Downtown Newmarket, Glenway Estates, Stonehaven, Woodland Hill, Huron Heights, Leslie Valley and surrounding communities.

For broader workplace issues, visit our Newmarket employment lawyers. Employees elsewhere in the province can also visit our Ontario employment contract lawyer page.

What should you send for a contract review?

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

Useful documents include:

  • The employment agreement or job offer
  • Any previous contracts with the same employer
  • Bonus or commission plans
  • Stock-option or equity documents
  • Promotion or compensation letters
  • Confidentiality or restrictive-covenant agreements
  • Emails explaining why a replacement 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 employment ends. Reviewing it before you sign gives you the best opportunity to understand and negotiate those consequences.

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

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

Review Your Employment Contract Before You Sign

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can identify terms that affect your severance, compensation and future career before you commit to the agreement.

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