London, Ontario Employment Lawyer

A London, Ontario employment lawyer helps non-unionized employees 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 London 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 employees 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 London, Ontario can assess whether your termination crosses that line and what your claim is worth.

Yes. Achkar Law's employment lawyers serve non-unionized employees across London (including Downtown London, Old North, Old South, Old East Village, Westmount, Byron, Lambeth, Hyde Park, Masonville, White Oaks, Pond Mills, Stoneybrook, and other neighborhoods), and across Southwestern Ontario more broadly, including St. Thomas, Strathroy, Woodstock, Sarnia, Chatham-Kent, Tillsonburg, Stratford, and the surrounding communities. Consultations are available virtually across Ontario.

Yes. Most employment law matters can be handled entirely through video or phone consultations, with documents exchanged electronically. Many of our Southwestern Ontario 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 London and Southwestern Ontario 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 employees 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.

London's largest employment sectors are healthcare, post-secondary education, insurance and financial services, manufacturing, and technology, and terminations, restructurings, and layoffs at these employers are common. If you have been laid off or terminated as a non-unionized employee at a London hospital, university, college, insurer, financial services firm, manufacturer, or other major employer, your entitlements come from the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and at common law, and you may be entitled to notice, severance, and continued benefits significantly above the statutory minimum.

For employees in specialized professional, technical, or senior roles common in London's healthcare, education, and insurance sectors, common-law severance is often substantially higher than the statutory minimum. An employment lawyer in London, Ontario can confirm what you are owed and what your options are.