If your employer cut your hours or lowered your pay without your agreement, you may have legal rights under Ontario law — including the right to treat it as if you were let go.
Your employer cannot simply cut your pay or reduce your hours without your agreement. Your pay rate and hours are key parts of your job. Changing them without your okay is not allowed unless your contract gives the employer the right to do so.
What counts as a significant change?
Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) says that if your employer cuts your wages by more than 15%, or reduces your hours, it may count as a “constructive dismissal” — meaning you were effectively fired, even if you were not told to leave.
Courts also look at the bigger picture. Even a cut below 15% can be a constructive dismissal if it is combined with other major changes to your job.
What is constructive dismissal?
Constructive dismissal means that even though you were not fired outright, your employer changed your job so much that it is treated in law as if they let you go. If this applies to you, you are owed the same things a fired employee would get — including notice pay or severance.
You generally have two options when facing a constructive dismissal:
OPTION 1
Accept and claim damages
Stay in your job but make a legal claim for the loss you suffered from the change.
OPTION 2
Resign and sue
Leave your job and treat it as a wrongful dismissal, then pursue full notice pay.
Important: If you keep working after the change and do not object, a court may decide you agreed to the new terms. You should object in writing — quickly and clearly — if you do not accept the change.
What are you owed?
Depending on your situation, you may be owed:
ESA termination pay — a minimum amount set by Ontario law based on how long you have worked there
Severance pay — if you have worked there 5 or more years and the company has a large payroll
Common law reasonable notice — often much more than the ESA minimum, based on your age, length of service, and type of job
What should you do right now?
(1) Write down what happened and when — dates, conversations, and any messages from your employer
(2) Put your objection in writing to your employer — say clearly that you do not agree to the change
(3) Do not resign without speaking to an employment lawyer first — how you leave matters
(4) Speak with an Ontario employment lawyer like us — we offer free first consultations
