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

Employment contracts can determine much more than your salary and vacation. They can limit severance, control bonuses and commissions, create probation periods, address temporary layoffs, restrict what you can do after leaving and give your employer greater flexibility to change aspects of your job.

Don’t wait until a problem develops to find out what you agreed to. 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 calls it “standard.” A few lines dealing with termination, layoffs or post-employment restrictions can materially affect your rights and compensation.

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When Should You Call an Employment Contract Lawyer in Toronto?

Speak with an employment contract lawyer before signing an agreement that can materially affect your compensation, job security, severance or future career options.

A contract review is particularly important when:

  • You have received a new job offer
  • Your current employer wants you to sign a new or revised contract
  • You are being promoted into a management or executive role
  • A large part of your compensation comes from bonuses, commissions, equity or stock options
  • The agreement contains a termination clause limiting severance
  • You are being placed on probation
  • The agreement contains a non-solicitation or non-compete provision
  • You are accepting a fixed-term position
  • Your 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 underlying Ontario rules, read our guide to employment contracts in Ontario.

💡 Contract review is most valuable while you still have a choice. Once you sign, the question often changes from “Should I agree to this?” to “Can my employer legally enforce what I already agreed to?”

What Does a Toronto Employment Contract Lawyer Review?

An employment contract lawyer identifies which terms matter financially and legally, explains their effect in plain English and determines what should be negotiated before you sign.

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

  • Salary and compensation: Base salary, raises, commissions, bonuses, incentive plans, allowances and equity compensation
  • Termination clauses: What you receive if the employer ends your employment and whether the clause attempts to limit common-law severance
  • Probation: Whether a probation period applies and what termination rights exist during it
  • Job duties: How much authority the employer has to change your role, title or responsibilities
  • Hours and 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 language: What happens if an agreement with a stated end date is terminated early
  • Post-employment restrictions: Non-solicitation, non-compete, confidentiality and related obligations
  • Resignation: How much notice the contract requires if you choose to leave

An employment contract can’t give you less than the minimum rights required by Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. But a properly drafted agreement can still reduce rights you would otherwise have under common law.

Should a Lawyer Review Your Employment Contract Before You Start a New Job?

Yes, when the agreement contains terms that can significantly affect your compensation, severance or ability to work elsewhere.

You don’t legally need a lawyer to accept a job offer. But a short review before signing can identify consequences that aren’t obvious from reading the agreement casually.

Employees understandably focus on salary, title and vacation when evaluating an offer. The clauses that create the greatest financial risk can appear much later in the document.

Can a lawyer negotiate your employment contract?

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

Depending on the job, useful negotiation points can include:

  • Termination and severance protection
  • Salary
  • Signing bonuses
  • Commission or bonus structures
  • 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 focus on the terms that materially affect your position.

Do you have to sign by the employer’s deadline?

You should respect a genuine job-offer deadline, but you don’t have to sign without understanding the agreement first.

If the employer wants an answer quickly, arrange the legal review promptly. Don’t sign first on the assumption that troublesome terms can easily be changed afterward.

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

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

An employer can present a new agreement when you receive a promotion, raise or other workplace change. It can also introduce a new contract without changing your day-to-day job.

The new agreement can add terms dealing with:

  • Reduced severance
  • Temporary layoffs
  • Changes to duties or work location
  • Non-solicitation restrictions
  • Bonus or commission eligibility
  • Other rights that were not part of your existing arrangement

A new contract introduced after employment has already begun can also raise separate enforceability issues. Have both your existing agreement and proposed replacement reviewed so you can see exactly what is changing.

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

What if you don’t want to sign the new contract?

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

Your employer can decide whether it is willing to continue the existing employment relationship. It can also decide to end your employment without cause and provide the termination compensation legally owed.

Don’t resign because you disagree with the proposed contract. Get advice about the existing agreement, the new terms and the employer’s stated position first.

How Can an Employment Contract 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 Ontario employees have common-law reasonable-notice rights. Those rights can provide substantially more compensation than the minimum amounts required by the ESA.

A properly drafted termination clause can limit those greater common-law rights. That makes the clause one of the most financially important provisions in your employment agreement.

Read our current guide to enforceable termination clauses in Ontario.

💡 Ontario termination-clause law changed again in 2026. Don’t rely on an old article—or assume a clause is invalid because it contains a particular phrase. The agreement needs to be assessed as a whole under current law.

What if you’ve already been fired?

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

Signing the contract years ago does not automatically prove that every termination term is enforceable today.

If the contract validly limits your 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 already have a termination package, our Toronto severance pay lawyers can review the compensation before you sign.

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

What Other Employment Contract Clauses Should You Review?

Review any provision that affects your compensation, job security or ability to earn a living after your employment ends.

Probation clauses

There is no automatic probation period in Ontario. If your employer wants to rely on probation, it needs to be properly established in the employment agreement.

See our guide to the probation period in Ontario.

Non-compete clauses

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

If a job offer contains a non-compete provision, don’t assume it is either enforceable or harmless. Have the wording reviewed before agreeing to it. Read more about non-compete clauses in Ontario.

Non-solicitation clauses

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

The wording matters. Read more about non-solicitation clauses in Ontario.

Fixed-term agreements

A fixed-term contract needs careful review because ending it before the stated expiry date can create significant compensation issues.

Before accepting a one-year, two-year or project-based contract, understand exactly what happens if the employer decides to end the relationship early.

Bonuses, commissions and equity

Variable compensation deserves the same attention as salary when it makes up a meaningful part of your income.

Review when a bonus or commission is earned, whether you must still be actively employed on the payment date, and what happens to stock or equity awards when employment ends.

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

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

Our employment law team can help you:

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

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP assists non-unionized employees throughout Toronto and the GTA, including downtown Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke and East York. For broader workplace issues, visit our Toronto employment lawyers.

What should you send your lawyer for a contract review?

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

Useful documents include:

  • The employment agreement or job offer
  • Previous employment contracts with the same employer
  • Bonus or commission plans
  • Stock-option or equity documents
  • Confidentiality or restrictive-covenant agreements
  • Promotion or compensation letters
  • The employer’s email explaining why a new contract 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 choices and the compensation you receive when your job ends. Understanding those terms before you sign gives you the opportunity to protect yourself while the agreement can still be negotiated.

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

Before you sign a new job offer, accept a revised 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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