Termination and Severance Pay in Manitoba

Manitoba does not have a law called "severance pay." Employers and employees searching for that term are usually looking for one of two different things: the statutory notice of termination (or termination pay in lieu of notice) set out in Manitoba's Employment Standards Code, or the broader common law reasonable notice that many non-unionized employees can claim on top of that statutory floor. This page walks through both, using the terms Manitoba's own legislation actually uses.

The distinction matters because the numbers can be very different, and because some information circulating about Manitoba's notice rules is out of date. The Employment Standards Code sets a modest, calculable minimum based on length of service. Common law reasonable notice, decided case by case by a court, can be substantially larger.

Manitoba Does Not Have a "Severance Pay" Law

Some Canadian jurisdictions, and the federal Canada Labour Code, use "severance pay" as a distinct legal entitlement, separate from notice. Manitoba's Employment Standards Code does not. It uses two related terms instead: notice of termination, meaning advance written notice an employer must give before ending employment without cause, and termination pay, meaning pay instead of that notice, equal to the wages the employee would have earned working through the notice period.

An employer can give working notice, pay in lieu of notice, or a combination of both, as long as the total meets the statutory minimum. This is a floor, not a ceiling. It says nothing about what a court might separately award under common law reasonable notice, covered further down this page.

The Statutory Notice of Termination Schedule

Manitoba's Employment Standards Code sets minimum notice, or termination pay instead of notice, based on how long the employee has worked for the employer. The current schedule applies to most non-unionized, provincially regulated employees.

Employees who resign generally owe less notice in return: one week once they have worked at least 30 days but less than a year, and two weeks once they have worked a year or more. Employers may agree to longer notice in an employment contract or offer more than the Code requires, but they cannot contract below these minimums.

A Note on "Pay Periods": Why Some Sources Describe Manitoba Notice Differently

Older articles, employment contracts, and some outdated online guides describe Manitoba's notice requirement in "pay periods" rather than weeks, often stating that notice equals one pay period once an employee passes 30 days of service. That description was accurate before April 30, 2007, when Manitoba calculated notice by pay period rather than by week. For an employee paid biweekly, one pay period worked out to roughly two weeks, which is part of why the old and new figures often look similar in casual summaries.

Manitoba's Employment Standards Code has expressed notice in weeks, using the schedule above, since amendments took effect on April 30, 2007. If a document or article refers to pay periods for a termination happening today, treat it as outdated and confirm the current schedule with Manitoba Employment Standards.

Termination Pay: Working Notice or Pay Instead of Notice

An employer does not have to let a departing employee keep working through the notice period. It can end employment immediately and pay termination pay instead, equal to the wages the employee would have earned during that notice period at their regular rate and normal weekly hours. For employees whose hours or pay vary, termination pay is generally based on recent average earnings rather than a single pay stub.

Termination pay is on top of, not instead of, any other wages already earned, including regular pay and accrued vacation pay owing up to the last day worked.

When No Notice or Termination Pay Is Required

The Employment Standards Code lists specific situations where an employer does not have to give notice or termination pay. The main ones are:

• The employee has been employed for less than 30 days.
• The employer can prove just cause, meaning serious misconduct rather than an ordinary performance issue.
• The employee is placed on a temporary layoff of no more than 8 weeks within a 16 week period.
• The employee works in the construction industry, which is covered separately under its own wage rules.
• The employment is for a specific length of time or a specific task, and it simply ends on schedule.
• The employee has substantial control over whether to accept work and is not penalized for declining it, except temporary help employees who regularly work more than 12 hours a week, who remain entitled to notice.
• The employee is an election worker terminated for a reason set out in The Elections Act.

Manitoba Employment Standards has said employers should weigh each situation on its own facts before skipping notice. Separately, an employee is generally not required to give notice when resigning because of improper or violent employer conduct. Just cause is a high bar, and a mistaken cause claim can leave an employer owing the notice it withheld.

Temporary Layoffs and Group Terminations

A temporary layoff of no more than 8 weeks within a 16 week period is not treated as a termination under the Code, so it does not by itself trigger notice or termination pay. A layoff that runs longer, or that is not a genuine temporary layoff, can be treated as a termination, at which point the usual notice and termination pay rules apply.

Manitoba also has separate rules when an employer plans to terminate 50 or more employees at one location within a 4 week period. Notice to the affected employees must scale with the size of the group: 10 weeks for 50 to 100 employees, 14 weeks for 101 to 299 employees, and 18 weeks for 300 or more employees. This group notice requirement sits on top of, not instead of, the individual notice or termination pay each employee is separately owed under the regular schedule above.

Common Law Reasonable Notice: Often the Bigger Number

The Employment Standards Code sets a legal minimum, not a ceiling. Most non-unionized Manitoba employees dismissed without cause also have a common law right to reasonable notice, and this can be substantially more generous than the statutory schedule above.

Reasonable notice is not read off a table. Courts weigh the Bardal factors: the character of the employment, length of service, the employee's age, and how available comparable employment is given their training and experience. For a fuller explanation, see reasonable notice and severance pay in Canada.

Manitoba courts, like courts elsewhere in Canada, have long treated roughly 24 months as a practical outer limit for reasonable notice, reserved for long serving, senior, or older employees in specialized roles with few comparable jobs available. An employment contract can validly limit an employee to the statutory minimum instead of common law notice, but the clause has to be clearly drafted. In Hebert v Colin's Mechanical Service Ltd, 2025 MBKB 87, the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba upheld a termination clause in a fixed term contract that limited a departing employee to the Code's statutory minimum notice rather than the balance of his multi year term, where both sides had been represented by counsel when the contract was signed. A poorly drafted or overreaching clause can instead be struck down entirely, leaving the employee with full common law reasonable notice.

Where These Claims Are Decided

Statutory complaints over the Employment Standards Code minimums are handled through Manitoba Employment Standards. Common law wrongful dismissal claims, seeking reasonable notice above the statutory floor, are civil lawsuits: generally Small Claims Court (part of the Court of King's Bench) for amounts up to $20,000, and the general docket of the Court of King's Bench for larger claims. Employees weighing a claim should also be mindful of mitigation obligations and applicable limitation periods.

This page is part of RecordingLaw's broader look at Canada employment law. For rules in other provinces and other areas of Canadian law, see Canadian law by province.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about notice of termination and termination pay rules in Manitoba. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer client relationship. Employment Standards Code minimums and common law reasonable notice depend on individual facts, including the specific wording of any employment contract. Anyone facing a termination or considering a claim should review their own documents and, where the amounts involved are significant, consult a licensed Manitoba employment lawyer or contact Manitoba Employment Standards.