Divisional Court of Ontario Clarifies that $2.5 Million Payroll for ESA Severance Pay is NOT Just Ontario Payroll:

In Hawkes v Max Aicher ( North America ) Lt ( 2021 ONSC 4290 Dambrot J. overturned a OLRB decision on judicial review and hopefully has ended the debate about whether when calculating the $2.5 million payroll threshold you only look at the payroll in Ontario or whether you look at the payroll of the the whole company and any related companies.

The Court found that the OLRB was plainly wrong and said as follows:

“The calculation of payroll under s. 64 of the ESA is not restricted to Ontario employment; employment outside of Ontario, including employment outside of Canada, must be included.”

Winning counsel was Wade Poziomka and Andrew Astritis at Ross McBride.

If you want a copy of this case email me at barryfisher@rogers.com