An employer and employee are not married for life. Often, an employer will bid farewell to an employee for business reasons, such as downsizing, and, in these circumstances, the employee will be dismissed with compensation based on the length of employment.
Dismissal from employment without compensation involves the issue of whether the employer dismissed the employee for just cause, that is, for good reason. Examples of just cause are poor work performance or absenteeism from work. If just cause is proven, the employer is not required to compensate the dismissed employee. The employee, however, may wish to argue that he or she was wrongfully dismissed, that is, dismissed without just cause, and should receive compensation.
The employee has one of two forums to contest a dismissal from employment. One forum is to file a claim under the Employment Standards Act with the Ministry of Labour. Under the Act, the maximum that an employer can be ordered to pay is $10,000. The other forum is the courts. An employee may sue in the small claims court for under $10,000 or in the superior court for higher amounts. An employer can only be made to respond to a wrongful dismissal allegation once, so if an employee loses in one of the forums chosen, that is the end of the case against the employer.