Ontario Severance Pay Calculator

Work out your minimum termination pay and severance pay under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, with the weeks owed, vacation pay, key dates and exclusions.

Reviewed by Dany, RightSums team · Updated

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salary-tax · Daily life · Canada

Enter your pay, when you started and your last day, and a few facts about your employer. The calculator applies the rules in Ontario's guide to the Employment Standards Act: notice or termination pay of 1 week per year up to 8 weeks after 3 months' service, and severance pay of 1 week per completed year plus completed months over 12, up to 26 weeks, once you have 5 years and the employer has a $2.5 million payroll or closes with 50 or more job losses. It adds vacation pay on termination pay, shows the payment and benefit dates, and checks the exclusions such as wilful misconduct and construction. These are legal minimums; the common law can give you far more.

Accepted inputs

  • Annual salary, hourly rate and weekly hours, or 12 weeks of variable earnings
  • Start date and last day, or years and months of service
  • Weeks of working notice given
  • Earlier periods with the same employer
  • Employer payroll, business closure and mass termination
  • Vacation pay rate
  • Exclusions such as wilful misconduct, construction or a temporary lay-off

Outputs

  • Statutory notice in weeks
  • Termination pay and vacation pay on it
  • Severance pay in weeks and dollars
  • Total ESA minimum before tax
  • Payment due date and benefit continuation date
  • Reasons an amount is not owed
  • What would change the amount

How to use the Ontario Severance Pay Calculator

  1. Enter your regular pay as a salary, an hourly rate with your usual hours, or your earnings over the last 12 weeks if your hours or commission vary.
  2. Add your start date and last day, any working notice you were given and a few facts about your employer, such as whether its global payroll is $2.5 million or more.
  3. The calculator applies the notice table and the severance formula from Ontario's Employment Standards Act guide, adds vacation pay on termination pay and checks the listed exclusions.
  4. Read the breakdown, the dates and the reasons behind each figure, then take legal advice before you accept an offer, because these are only the legal minimums.

Frequently asked questions

How is severance pay calculated in Ontario?

Multiply your regular weekly wages by your completed years of employment plus completed months divided by 12, up to 26 weeks. You qualify after 5 years if your employer's global payroll is at least $2.5 million, or it let 50 or more people go in 6 months because all or part of the business closed. Severance is on top of termination pay.

How much severance will I get after 7 years in Ontario?

On a $65,000 salary ($1,250 a week), dismissed with no notice after 7 years and 6 months: 7 weeks' termination pay of $8,750, plus $525 vacation pay, plus severance of $9,583.33, because the 7 weeks in lieu take your service to 7 years and 8 months. That is $18,858.33 before tax. With a payroll under $2.5 million it is $9,275.

What is the difference between termination pay and severance pay in Ontario?

Termination pay replaces the written notice you were owed: 1 week for under a year (after 3 months), 2 weeks for 1 to 3 years, then 1 week per year up to 8. Severance pay is a separate payment for losing a long-term job, owed only after 5 years with a large employer or a closure. Many people are owed both.

Who does not get severance pay in Ontario?

The ESA excludes people dismissed for wilful misconduct that is not trivial, construction employees, on-site maintenance workers, people who refused reasonable alternative work, those retiring on a full pension, and jobs ended by an unforeseen event such as a fire. Anyone with under 5 years, or whose employer has a payroll under $2.5 million and no mass closure, is also left out.

Is Ontario severance pay 1 month per year?

No. The Employment Standards Act gives 1 week of severance per year of service, up to 26 weeks, plus up to 8 weeks' termination pay. There is no set months-per-year rule. Courts can award common-law reasonable notice that is often much higher, depending on your circumstances, so speak to an employment lawyer before signing a release.

Sources

The rates and rules in this tool come from:

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