01. Gather every employment agreement
Provide the original offer, signed contract, later amendments, promotion letters and relevant policies. Include documents from any business transfer or change of employer. Your lawyer needs the full employment history to assess the applicable terms. A termination clause should be reviewed in its context rather than judged from a sentence quoted in an email.
02. List the complete compensation package
Record salary, bonuses, commissions, benefits, pension or retirement contributions, and any equity arrangements. Provide recent pay statements and plan documents where available. Identify outstanding expenses, earned compensation and vacation issues separately from the additional severance offer. This makes it easier to see what the employer is proposing to pay and what remains disputed.
03. Distinguish minimum standards from other potential rights
Ontario’s employment standards guide explains that statutory standards are minimum requirements and greater rights may arise under a contract, collective agreement, common law or other legislation. The applicable regime must be checked: federally regulated and unionized employment can involve different rules and processes. A generic online severance estimate is not a substitute for reviewing the actual contract and circumstances.
Discuss your documents and next steps with Giri Legal.
Schedule a consultation04. Read the release and continuing obligations
Identify the claims the release would cover and any confidentiality, non-disparagement, repayment, cooperation or other obligations. Check whether the payment is a lump sum or salary continuance and what happens if you find another job. Ask how benefits are treated. Make a list of provisions you do not understand before the consultation.
05. Flag deadlines and the reason for termination
Provide the date you received the offer and its stated acceptance deadline. Tell the lawyer about any allegation of misconduct, leave, disability, discrimination, reprisal or other relevant circumstance. Do not assume a request for more time has been accepted until it is confirmed. Discuss your objective: reviewing the offer, negotiating terms or assessing a potential claim.
Your document checklist
- All employment contracts and amendments
- Termination letter, offer and release
- Recent pay statements and benefit details
- Bonus, commission or equity plans
- Employment timeline and acceptance deadline
Official resources
Resources are provided for further reading. Rules and legal rights depend on the applicable law and the facts; confirm current requirements before acting.