The amount of severance pay you are entitled to depends on several factors. Common law reasonable notice is the default position unless the employment contract explicitly restrict the employee to Employment Standards Act statutory minimum termination pay and severance pay with employee consent.
Most companies provide a severance agreement that spells out the financial conditions of the employee's departure. In Ontario, a severance package is mandatory. The common everyday usage of the word severance is very different than what it meant in employment law context. How much "severance pay" you are entitled to legally depends on whether you intend to sue under common law or if you intend to file an ESA claim after you have been terminated.
Common Law Severance, also referred to as reasonable notice, share nothing in common to ESA Severance and they mean very different things. The Employment Standards Act breaks down the amount an employee might receive after termination into ESA termination pay (the amount you get depends on how long you have been working for the company) and ESA severance pay (an amount to award long term service employees if certain conditions are met).
The amount an employer is required to give to a terminated employee in the form of a severance package is decided by a variety of factors, such as the length of service, age, reason of termination, position held within the company, wages and compensation previously earned, whether the individual was actively recruited, and the general economy.
Entitlements under common law reasonable notice may dramatically exceed the statutory entitlements under ESA. A damage award in a successful case be as high as 24 to 26 months in some extreme cases.
The amount an employer is required to give to a terminated employee in the form of a severance package is decided by a variety of factors, such as the length of service, age, reason of termination, position held within the company, wages and compensation previously earned, whether the individual was actively recruited, and the general economy.