Ontario Court Of Appeal Examines Mass Termination Requirements

In Wood v. CTS of Canada Co., 2018 ONCA 758, the Ontario Court of Appeal examined employer obligations under the province's legislated requirements during mass terminations of employment. In doing so, the Court of Appeal provided guidance to employers on providing effective notice to employees, as well as on serving and providing notice to the Director of Employment Standards.

Background

On April 17, 2014, CTS of Canada Co. gave written notice to employees that it was closing a plant and that, as a result, the employment of all employees at the plant would be terminated effective March 27, 2015. The termination date was subsequently extended to June 26, 2015. In response, a class action was brought on behalf of several employees against CTS of Canada Co. and its parent corporation CTS Corp. (collectively, CTS).

Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and its regulations impose a number of requirements in the case of mass termination. Under the ESA, mass termination provisions apply where an employer terminates the employment of 50 or more employees in the same four-week period. The following requirements apply to mass terminations:

The employer must give at least eight weeks' notice of termination; The employer is required to give a Form 1 to the Director of Employments Standards, which includes the following information: The number of employees at the workplace and the number of employees whose employment will be terminated; The date on which terminations will be effective; and Whether the employer has implemented or discussed with their employees any alternatives to termination. The eight weeks' notice of termination is not deemed to have been given to employees until the Director of Employment Standards receives the Form 1. The employer must post the Form 1 in the employer's establishment. CTS did not serve and post the Form 1 information until May 12, 2015. This was more than a year into the notice period provided to employees and less than eight weeks prior to the termination date, June 26, 2015.

The Court's Analysis

The class of employees brought a motion for summary judgment to address three issues in the litigation.

First, the court was asked to determine whether the employer was required to serve and post the Form 1 in April 2014, when notice of termination of employment was given to the employees. The motion judge concluded that the ESA required employers to serve and post the Form 1 when it gave notice to employees on...