What’s good for the goose is good for the gander…is that how the saying goes? The employer and employee have reciprocal duties to give each other notice of termination or resignation. Assuming no collective agreement involved, then the notice period (for resignation by employee or termination by employer) is governed by both common law and provincial employment standards acts. So, just as employers cannot rely on the bare minimum notice periods in employment standards acts, neither can the employee. Believe it or not employers can sue an employee for not giving enough notice of resignation, and the court have ordered employees to to pay damages to the employer for lack of reasonable notice of resignation! This is very rare as employers almost never bother to do this, but legally they could.
So in regards to this question, your could give notice of resignation, but you wouldn’t trigger any right to be paid statutory severance pay, that can only happen if your employment is being terminated by the employer.
David Brannen
Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal
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