Severance in Ontario for 6 months of service: 1 week
An employee with 6 months of service in Ontario terminated without cause is entitled to 1 week of statutory notice under Employment Standards Act.
What 1 week of severance looks like in dollars
Multiply the employee's regular weekly wage by 1 to get the pay in lieu of notice. Below, the calculation at common Canadian salary points for 6 months of service in Ontario.
| Annual salary | Weekly wage | × 1 weeks | Statutory pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $865 | × 1 | $865 |
| $60,000 | $1,154 | × 1 | $1,154 |
| $80,000 | $1,538 | × 1 | $1,538 |
| $100,000 | $1,923 | × 1 | $1,923 |
| $130,000 | $2,500 | × 1 | $2,500 |
How the rule works
1 week per year of service, max 8 weeks notice. Severance (separate) applies at large employers for 5+ year employees.An employee terminated without cause is entitled to either the notice itself, worked out over the notice period, or pay in lieu of notice at the employee's regular wage rate.
The specific calculation for 6 months of service in Ontario draws from Employment Standards Act, 2000, s. 57 (notice), s. 64 (severance). The result: 1 week of the employee's regular wages.
This is the statutory floor, not the answer
Common-law reasonable notice under the Bardal factors (age, length of service, character of employment, availability of similar work) is usually longer than the statutory minimum. For an employee with 6 months of service, common-law notice in a comparable dismissal case can range from 1 to 4 months, versus 1 week at the statutory floor. Unless the employment contract contains a clear and enforceable termination clause limiting the entitlement to the ESA minimum, the employee retains the common-law right. Always consult employment counsel before finalizing a termination package.
Other tenure scenarios for Ontario
Same tenure in other provinces
Run Ontario offboarding end-to-end.
Hibiscus HR turns this calculation into an audited offboarding workflow: ROE filing on Service Canada, termination letter, final pay, equipment checklist, and the audit trail to prove every step happened.