If you have been fired or laid off in Alberta, your employer may give you a severance offer and ask you to sign a release. Don’t assume the first offer represents everything you are legally owed.
The Quick Answer: Can you negotiate severance in Alberta? Yes. A severance offer is negotiable, and you can ask for more when the package falls short of your legal entitlement. Before making a counteroffer, determine how much severance pay you are owed in Alberta.
Alberta employment standards set minimum termination rights. For many non-unionized employees, those minimums are only the starting point. Common-law severance can provide substantially more compensation—as much as 24 months’ pay—unless an enforceable employment contract validly limits that entitlement.
On This Page:
- 1. Is Severance Negotiable?
- 2. How Much Are You Owed?
- 3. How to Negotiate Severance
- 4. What Should Be Included?
- 5. Mistakes to Avoid
- 6. Should You Use a Lawyer?
Is Severance Negotiable in Alberta?
Yes. You can negotiate a severance package in Alberta.
Your employer’s offer does not determine your legal entitlement. If the package is less than what you are owed, you can seek the difference through negotiation and, if necessary, a wrongful dismissal claim.
Alberta employment standards establish minimum termination notice or pay. Those are minimum standards—not an automatic cap on severance. Alberta also recognizes that an employee’s common-law notice entitlement can exceed the minimum required by the Employment Standards Code.
Does your employer have to accept your severance counteroffer?
No. Your employer can reject the amount you request. But rejecting your counteroffer does not erase the severance rights you already have.
The purpose of negotiation is to resolve the difference between the package offered and the compensation legally owed. Many severance disputes are resolved without going to trial.
Your employer’s deadline is not your legal deadline
Given two, three or five days to sign? A short severance deadline does not cancel your legal rights.
In Alberta, the basic limitation period for a civil wrongful dismissal claim is two years from discovery of the claim. In a straightforward termination case, that period will normally begin when you know you have been dismissed and have a claim arising from the termination.
That doesn’t mean you should wait two years. It means you do not need to sign an inadequate package simply because your employer has imposed an artificial deadline.
How Much Severance Are You Owed in Alberta?
Before negotiating, calculate your legal entitlement. Asking for an arbitrary number leaves you at a disadvantage.
Three questions determine the starting point.
1. What are your minimum termination-pay rights?
Alberta’s Employment Standards Code sets minimum notice or termination pay based primarily on length of service.
These minimums are not automatically your full severance.
Our guide to termination pay versus severance pay in Alberta explains why the two amounts can be very different.
2. Does your employment contract limit your severance?
Your employment contract can contain a termination clause designed to limit your compensation when your job ends.
Don’t assume the clause is enforceable simply because it appears in a signed contract. The wording and legal validity of the clause determine whether it actually limits your common-law rights.
3. What is your common-law severance entitlement?
If your common-law rights have not been validly limited, your severance is assessed using common-law reasonable notice.
Important factors include:
- Your age
- Your length of service
- The nature and seniority of your position
- The availability of comparable employment
These are commonly called the Bardal factors.
Depending on these factors and the terms of your employment, severance can reach 24 months’ pay.
How to Negotiate a Severance Package in Alberta
A strong severance negotiation starts with your legal entitlement—not with asking your employer whether it is willing to be more generous.
- Don’t sign the offer immediately. Take the time to understand both the compensation and the release.
- Review your employment contract. Determine whether the termination clause actually limits your common-law rights.
- Calculate your full severance. Compare the offer against both Alberta minimum standards and common-law reasonable notice.
- Identify missing compensation. Severance is not necessarily limited to base salary.
- Review why you were dismissed. Allegations of cause, discrimination, retaliation or bad-faith conduct can change the legal issues involved.
- Make a reasoned counteroffer. Explain the gap between the employer’s offer and your actual entitlement.
- Negotiate the complete package. Address compensation, benefits and important non-financial terms together.
How much more severance should you ask for?
There is no standard percentage or number of extra weeks. Your counteroffer should reflect what the employer still owes you.
Asking for another two weeks because it sounds reasonable can badly undervalue a claim if your actual entitlement is several months greater than the offer.
Can you negotiate after your employer’s severance deadline?
Yes. The expiry date written in the offer does not extinguish your legal right to pursue proper severance.
If the deadline passes and you have not signed a release, your underlying wrongful dismissal claim remains subject to the legal limitation period—not the date your employer chose to put in its letter.
Get the package reviewed early. If the offer is inadequate, seek the proper amount through negotiation or a wrongful dismissal claim.
What Should Be Included in a Severance Negotiation?
A severance package is not simply a number of weeks of base salary.
Your compensation package can include:
- Salary or wages
- Health and dental benefits
- Bonuses
- Commissions
- Vacation pay
- Pension or retirement contributions
- Stock, RSUs and other incentive compensation
Whether a particular form of compensation continues through the notice period depends on the terms governing that compensation and the employee’s legal entitlement. Bonus compensation deserves particular attention. See our guide to bonuses and severance pay.
What else can you negotiate besides money?
A severance settlement can also address:
- Benefit continuation
- A reference letter
- How your departure is described
- Non-competition or non-solicitation restrictions
- Confidentiality and non-disparagement terms
- The wording and scope of the release
- Return of company property
What about EI and severance?
EI rules determine how separation payments are treated for benefit purposes, and those rules can change. Review the current rules before structuring or accepting a severance settlement.
See our guide to EI and severance pay for the current treatment.
Mistakes to Avoid When Negotiating Severance
Signing before you know what you’re owed
A severance agreement usually contains a release that ends your ability to pursue further claims against the employer. Once you sign, you usually can’t change your mind and ask for more.
Letting your employer’s deadline pressure you
A two-day or five-day signing deadline does not replace Alberta’s legal limitation period. Take the time required to understand the package before giving up your rights.
Negotiating only your salary
Benefits, bonuses, commissions and other compensation can materially increase the value of a severance claim.
Assuming years of service determine everything
They don’t. Age, position and the availability of comparable employment are also central to the common-law calculation.
Accepting a “for cause” allegation at face value
Your employer calling a termination “for cause” does not make it legally valid. Cause is a serious allegation. If the employer can’t prove it, you can still be entitled to full severance.
Waiting until the legal deadline is approaching
You have time to get advice, but there is no advantage in leaving a severance dispute unresolved for years. Evidence becomes harder to collect, circumstances change and limitation periods matter.
Should You Negotiate Severance Yourself or Use a Lawyer?
You can negotiate directly with your employer. The risk is doing so before you know the value of your claim.
Once you make a counteroffer based on an arbitrary number, overlook compensation or sign a release, fixing the mistake becomes much harder.
An employment lawyer can:
- Calculate your severance entitlement
- Review the termination clause in your employment contract
- Identify compensation missing from the offer
- Assess a termination-for-cause allegation
- Prepare the counteroffer
- Negotiate directly with your employer or its lawyer
- Review the settlement and release before you sign
The process doesn’t need to be confrontational or overwhelming. The goal is to determine what you are owed and resolve the difference.
Severance lawyers in Calgary and Edmonton
Employees in Calgary can have their offer reviewed by our Calgary severance pay lawyers.
Employees in Edmonton can speak with our Edmonton severance pay lawyers about their termination package and the compensation they are owed.
Have Your Alberta Severance Package Reviewed Before You Sign
Losing your job puts immediate pressure on your income and can make a short signing deadline feel final. It isn’t.
The Alberta employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can review your employment contract, severance package and compensation and determine the full amount you are entitled to pursue.
If your employer’s offer falls short, we can negotiate on your behalf and seek the compensation you are owed.
Before you sign, always check first.