{"id":6620,"date":"2024-03-22T15:08:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T19:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T11:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T15:43:10","slug":"employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer’s early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace<\/em>, 2024 ONSC 1029, Justice Pierce found the early termination provisions of a fixed-term contract were unenforceable and awarded Ms. Dufault damages for the remaining term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 24, 2022, Ms. Dufault executed a fixed-term contract with the Corporation of the Township of Ignace (the \u201cTownship\u201d), under which her employment was set to end on December 31, 2024. The Township terminated Ms. Dufault\u2019s employment without cause, effective January 26, 2023. Ms. Dufault sued the Township, contending the contract\u2019s termination provisions were unenforceable and asking the Court to award her damages for the balance of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Pierce held that the contract\u2019s termination provisions were unenforceable for the following reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. The without cause termination provision provided for the payment of \u201cbase salary,\u201d rather than \u201cregular wages,\u201d contrary to section 60 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000<\/em> (\u201cESA\u201d);<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The without cause termination provision did not reference the payment of vacation pay on termination;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The without cause termination provision did not explicitly mention certain components of the employee\u2019s compensation, including her entitlement to 5 days of paid leave per year to compensate her for overtime hours;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. It stated the Township could terminate Ms. Dufault\u2019s employment without cause \u201cat its sole discretion,\u201d when the ESA prohibited it from doing so in certain circumstances; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. The termination for cause provision permitted the Township to withhold termination pay (and severance pay, if applicable) in circumstances where it was required to be paid under the ESA.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    As a result, the Court awarded Ms. Dufault approximately $157,071.57 in damages representing her expected earnings for the remainder of the term of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This case is an outlier that has taken the application of the Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc.<\/em> principles far beyond the pole. However, it stands as an important reminder that employment contracts must comply with the ESA and employers are prohibited from contracting out of their obligations under the ESA. Employers should have their employment contract templates reviewed regularly to ensure compliance with the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, Justice Pierce found the early termination provisions of a fixed-term contract were unenforceable and awarded Ms. Dufault damages for the remaining term. On November 24, 2022, Ms. Dufault executed a fixed-term contract with the Corporation of the Township of Ignace (the \u201cTownship\u201d), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":14369,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"insight-format":[416],"class_list":["post-6620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-labour-and-employment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFixed-term trap? Court throws out employer's early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract | Miller Thomson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer's early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract | Miller Thomson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, Justice Pierce found the early termination provisions of a fixed-term contract were unenforceable and awarded Ms. Dufault damages for the remaining term. On November 24, 2022, Ms. Dufault executed a fixed-term contract with the Corporation of the Township of Ignace (the \u201cTownship\u201d), […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Miller Thomson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MillerThomsonLaw\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-22T19:08:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T15:43:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1776\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"994\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nyeisha Murray\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@millerthomson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@millerthomson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nyeisha Murray\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nyeisha Murray\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8c49b710501a2ba22438ca72fb0c0c85\"},\"headline\":\"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer’s early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-22T19:08:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T15:43:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Labour and Employment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"ItemPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\",\"name\":\"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer's early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract | Miller Thomson\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-22T19:08:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T15:43:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg\",\"width\":1776,\"height\":994},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer’s early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Miller Thomson\",\"description\":\"National law firm providing business law expertise and litigation and disputes services for businesses across Canada since 1957.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Miller Thomson\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/miller-thomson.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/miller-thomson.svg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Miller Thomson\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MillerThomsonLaw\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/millerthomson\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/miller-thomson-llp\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@millerthomson\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8c49b710501a2ba22438ca72fb0c0c85\",\"name\":\"Nyeisha Murray\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec01113c3c7208ac683f05f5b7f25e187ddf5deabc82d0d9e12aeca8d3b9c851?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec01113c3c7208ac683f05f5b7f25e187ddf5deabc82d0d9e12aeca8d3b9c851?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nyeisha Murray\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer's early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract | Miller Thomson","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer's early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract | Miller Thomson","og_description":"In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, Justice Pierce found the early termination provisions of a fixed-term contract were unenforceable and awarded Ms. Dufault damages for the remaining term. On November 24, 2022, Ms. Dufault executed a fixed-term contract with the Corporation of the Township of Ignace (the \u201cTownship\u201d), […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/","og_site_name":"Miller Thomson","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MillerThomsonLaw\/","article_published_time":"2024-03-22T19:08:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-10T15:43:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1776,"height":994,"url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nyeisha Murray","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@millerthomson","twitter_site":"@millerthomson","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nyeisha Murray","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/"},"author":{"name":"Nyeisha Murray","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8c49b710501a2ba22438ca72fb0c0c85"},"headline":"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer’s early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract","datePublished":"2024-03-22T19:08:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-10T15:43:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/"},"wordCount":352,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg","articleSection":["Labour and Employment"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["WebPage","ItemPage"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/","url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/","name":"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer's early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract | Miller Thomson","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-22T19:08:17+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-10T15:43:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Insights_Labour-and-Employment_Post-Image.jpg","width":1776,"height":994},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/labour-and-employment\/employers-early-termination-provisions-employee-contract\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fixed-term trap? Court throws out employer’s early termination provisions and awards former employee the balance of the contract"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/","name":"Miller Thomson","description":"National law firm providing business law expertise and litigation and disputes services for businesses across Canada since 1957.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#organization","name":"Miller Thomson","url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/miller-thomson.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/miller-thomson.svg","width":380,"height":50,"caption":"Miller Thomson"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MillerThomsonLaw\/","https:\/\/x.com\/millerthomson","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/miller-thomson-llp\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@millerthomson"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8c49b710501a2ba22438ca72fb0c0c85","name":"Nyeisha Murray","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec01113c3c7208ac683f05f5b7f25e187ddf5deabc82d0d9e12aeca8d3b9c851?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ec01113c3c7208ac683f05f5b7f25e187ddf5deabc82d0d9e12aeca8d3b9c851?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nyeisha Murray"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6620"},{"taxonomy":"insight-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-format?post=6620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}