Federally regulated employee rights.

Federally Regulated Employment in Canada

A different set of rules

Most employees are covered by provincial employment standards rules, such as the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) for Ontario-based employees. But if your employer operates in a federally regulated industry, you're governed by the federal Canada Labour Code (the “CLC”) instead. The two regimes may have some similarities, but they are not the same, and the differences matter most exactly when you need them: on termination.

Are you federally regulated?

Whether you're federally regulated depends on the nature of your employment, not the size of your employer. Working for a large or national company does not automatically make you federally regulated. Federally regulated employees may include:

• Banks and federally regulated financial institutions
• Airlines and airports
• Railways, and interprovincial or international trucking and shipping
• Telecommunications and broadcasting companies
• Postal and courier services
• Certain federal Crown corporations

If it's unclear which regime applies to you, it's worth confirming before you rely on either one, since the rules and deadlines are different.

Minimum notice and severance

The CLC sets its own minimums. After three consecutive months of employment, you're generally entitled to at least two weeks' notice of termination, or pay in lieu, and after three years of service that minimum rises by one week for each completed year, up to eight weeks. Employees with at least twelve consecutive months of service may also qualify for separate statutory severance pay, generally the greater of two days' wages per year of service or five days' wages.

As with the provincial system, these are only minimums. Depending on your age, position, length of service, and the availability of comparable work, you may be entitled to considerably more under your contract or the common law.

Unjust dismissal: a remedy most employees don't have

One of the most powerful protections for federally regulated employees is the unjust dismissal process under the CLC. A non-unionized employee with at least twelve months of service may be able to challenge a dismissal as "unjust." Managers, and employees let go for a genuine discontinuance of a job function, are generally excluded.

What makes this remedy unusual is the range of outcomes. Where a dismissal is found to be unjust, an adjudicator can order remedies a court ordinarily cannot, including reinstatement to your job, along with compensation for lost wages and benefits. The trade-off is timing: the deadline to file is short, generally 90 days from the dismissal, so it's important to get advice quickly rather than waiting for severance negotiations to run their course.

You may be owed more than the minimum

Federally regulated employees can generally still pursue a wrongful dismissal claim for reasonable notice, in addition to the CLC's minimums. In fact, you can typically pursue both, an unjust dismissal complaint and a wrongful dismissal claim, since they're separate avenues with different remedies. The right strategy depends on what you're trying to achieve, such as getting your job back versus securing the largest possible payment, and understanding both options early is what protects them.

How we help

• Confirm whether the CLC or the provincial ESA applies to you
• Assess your full entitlements, both statutory and at common law
• Advise on unjust dismissal complaints, wrongful dismissal claims, and the deadlines for each
• Review and negotiate your severance package before you sign anything

For a plain-language overview of these rights, see our post on what federally regulated employees should know.