How many weeks notice must my employer give me before dismissing me?
Short answer
In Quebec, the written notice of termination of employment is 1 week for less than one year of uninterrupted service, 2 weeks from 1 to 5 years, 4 weeks from 5 to 10 years, and 8 weeks for 10 years or more (s. 82 of the Act respecting labour standards).
In detail
The notice must be in writing: a verbal announcement or a posting does not meet the requirement. The employer may give the notice in time — the person works during the period — or in money, by paying a compensatory indemnity equal to the usual wages for the length of the notice (s. 83).
Notice is not required in several situations: less than 3 months of uninterrupted service, a fixed-term contract or a contract for a specific undertaking that comes to an end, serious misconduct by the employee, a layoff of less than 6 months, or a case of superior force (s. 82.1).
These periods are a minimum. The Civil Code of Québec imposes, in parallel, a “reasonable” notice of termination, which takes into account the nature of the employment, the circumstances and the length of service (art. 2091). For a management or highly specialized position, that period may go well beyond the one set out in the Act respecting labour standards. An employee cannot renounce in advance the indemnity that takes its place (art. 2092).
What to document
The termination letter and its date, your last day worked, your exact hire date, your title and your responsibilities, your wage and your benefits, and the amounts paid as an indemnity. Length of service and usual wage are the two figures everything is calculated from.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
- Act respecting labour standards (CQLR, c. N-1.1) — Légis Québec
- Act respecting labour standards — full text (CanLII)
- Civil Code of Québec (CQLR, c. CCQ-1991) — Légis Québec
- CNESST — Notice of termination of employment and indemnity
Related questions
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- When should i receive my final pay and my record of employment?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.