Termination Pay Calculator

Note: This calculator is only for ESA notice and does not calculate any greater notice an employee may be entitled under the common law. The number of weeks entered must correspond to the notice requirements under section 57 or 58 of the ESA. If you are not familiar with those requirements, see the entitlement part of this tool.
Not sure?

If you are not familiar with how to determine the employee’s period of employment, are not familiar with the mass termination rules or need to confirm termination pay or notice is applicable you should refer to the Entitlement part of this tool.

Mass Termination Notice

Definitions:

Regular Wages

ss. 1(1) of the ESA defines regular wages as wages other than overtime pay, vacation pay, public holiday pay, premium pay, termination pay and severance pay and certain contractual entitlements. For information on what those contractual entitlements are see ss. 5(2) of the ESA.

Regular Work Week

A regular work week for an employee who usually works the same number of hours every week is a week of that many hours, not including overtime hours.

Some employees do not work the same number of hours every week or they are paid on a basis other than time (commissions, commission plus base wage, piecework, etc.)

For them, the "regular wages" for a "regular work week are:

• the average amount of the regular wages earned by the employee in the weeks in which the employee worked in the 12 weeks immediately before the date of termination.
• or if notice was provided, 12 weeks before the date notice was given. Where an employee has been terminated as a result of a lay-off exceeding the length of a temporary lay-off, the calculation is based on the 12 weeks immediately before the first day of lay-off (which is deemed to be the termination date).

To calculate the average amount of wages earned in the 12 weeks before either the date notice was given or the date of termination, it is important to note that you are looking at blocks of 12 weeks. It is program policy that if in the 12 weeks prior there were no wages earned, you would move to the next preceding block of 12 weeks, and so on, until you found a block of 12 weeks where there were wages earned.

Need an example?

Example:

Aliya's employment was terminated on May 1, 2009, after returning from an educational leave of 12 weeks. She was paid by piecework and did not earn the same amount of wages in each week. Because Aliya was on an educational leave in the 12 weeks before termination, she did not work any of the 12 weeks and therefore had earned no wages during that time.

0-12 weeks before termination – no weeks worked
12-24 weeks before termination – seven weeks worked

In the 12-24 week period before termination, Aliya worked for seven weeks and earned $5000. To calculate Aliya’s regular wages for a regular work week you divide $5000 by the seven weeks worked.

$5000 / 7

Regular wage per week = $714.29

Generally, the minimum percentage of vacation pay that must be provided on termination pay under the ESA is 4%. However, some types of employees are exempt from receiving vacation pay. Consult the Special Rule Tool to see who they are and if an exemption applies, enter zero percent.

If the employment contract provides that vacation pay is calculated at a higher percentage, enter that percentage instead.

If the amount of termination pay provided is more than required under ESA, the ministry does not consider the employer to be obliged, under the ESA, to pay vacation pay on the entire amount, only on the statutory portion of it. However, common law may provide otherwise.

Enter additional information here if the employee worked during the statutory notice period. Note: If you are entering information in D and E you should not have information in F and G.

Wage rate is the basis on which the employee is paid (e.g., so much per hour, commissions, base plus commissions, piecework)

Wages are defined by section 1 of the ESA to mean:

• monetary amounts that are to be paid by the employer to the employee under the terms of a contract (oral or written, express or implied)
• any payments an employer is required to make under this Act
• allowances for room or board under an employment contract

Wages do not include:

• tips and other gratuities,
• gifts or bonuses that are dependent on the discretion of the employer and are not related to hours, production or efficiency,
• expenses and travelling allowances, or
• employer contributions to a benefit plan and payments to which an employee is entitled from a benefit plan

Enter additional information here if the employee received less notice than required under the ESA and worked during the reduced notice period. If you have entered information in D and E you should not be entering information in F and G.