Employment Lawyer Oshawa and Durham Region

An Oshawa employment lawyer helps workers navigate the legal issues that arise from their job. That typically includes reviewing severance offers and negotiating better terms, pursuing wrongful dismissal claims for terminations without proper notice or pay, advising on workplace harassment, discrimination, and human rights matters, reviewing employment contracts before you sign, and representing employees in workplace investigations and disputes.

Many of these matters are resolved through negotiation rather than litigation, particularly when an employee gets legal advice early in the dispute.

The minimum severance you are entitled to comes from Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and depends on your length of service and your employer's payroll. However, employees terminated without cause in Ontario are often entitled to significantly more under the common law, which considers factors including your age, position, length of service, and how quickly you can find similar work.

The common-law amount is sometimes two or three times the statutory minimum, occasionally more. Whether your offer reflects what you are actually owed is something an employment lawyer in Oshawa can assess directly.

As early as possible. If you have been terminated, offered a severance package, asked to sign a new contract, or are experiencing harassment or discrimination at work, the early decisions you make can determine the outcome. Severance offers often have signing deadlines, and once you sign a release, it is binding.

Speaking with a lawyer before signing typically costs less than what is left on the table when workers sign without advice.

If you were terminated without cause and not given proper notice or pay in lieu, you generally have a wrongful dismissal claim, though most are resolved through negotiation rather than court. "For cause" terminations require employers to meet a high legal threshold, and many for-cause terminations do not actually meet that threshold.

A wrongful dismissal lawyer in Oshawa can assess whether your termination crosses that line and what your claim is worth.

Yes. Achkar Law's employment lawyers serve workers across all of Durham Region: Oshawa, Whitby (including Brooklin), Ajax, Pickering, Clarington (Bowmanville, Courtice, Newcastle), Scugog (Port Perry), Uxbridge, and the Brock Township communities. Consultations are available at our office and virtually across Ontario.

Yes. Most employment law matters can be handled entirely through video or phone consultations, with documents exchanged electronically. Many of our Durham Region clients prefer virtual consultations for convenience, particularly when working through a stressful workplace issue or after a recent termination.

In Ontario, "employment lawyer" and "labour lawyer" are often used interchangeably, but technically: employment law covers individual workplace relationships for non-unionized employees, while labour law covers unionized workplaces and collective bargaining.

For unionized employees, most workplace disputes go through the grievance procedure under the collective agreement, and the union is your representative. Achkar Law represents non-unionized employees across Oshawa and Durham Region on the full range of employment matters, and represents unionized employees on human rights complaints that fall outside what the grievance procedure addresses. We do not represent unionized workers on collective-agreement disputes; for those, your union or its legal counsel is your representative. For employers and management seeking labour law counsel, please visit our labour law practice for employers.

Layoffs in Oshawa's manufacturing and auto sectors are common, but the legal pathway depends on whether the affected worker is unionized. Non-unionized workers, often in supervisory, technical, professional, or office roles, have rights under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and at common law, and may be entitled to notice, severance, and continued benefits significantly above the statutory minimum.

If you are a non-unionized worker who has been told your role is being eliminated, an Oshawa employment lawyer can confirm what you are owed and what your options are. If you are unionized, your collective agreement and your union representative are your primary recourse, though we may be able to assist with a human rights aspect of the layoff if one applies to your situation.