Ontario Board Rules “Just Cause” Is Not Enough to Avoid Paying Termination Notice

The Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that a plant had just cause to fire an employee for sleeping on the job but still had to pay him termination notice. Under the ESA (Section 2(1)(3.) of the regulations), notice need not be paid to an employee who commits “willful misconduct, disobedience or willful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned by the employer” (emphasis added). The employer produced photos proving that the employee was asleep; but they didn’t prove the offence was willful. Result: The plant had to pay the employee termination notice and stat holiday pay [Zhang v. Crystal Claire Cosmetics Inc., 2015 CanLII 32245 (ON LRB)].