How Do I Write and Review an Employment Termination Letter in Alberta?

Step 1: Confirm whether the termination is with cause or without cause

The first decision shapes everything else in the letter. A without-cause termination requires written notice or pay in lieu under the Employment Standards Code. A for-cause termination (dismissal for serious misconduct, such as theft, which Alberta’s Employer Toolkit lists as an example of just cause) can bypass the statutory notice requirement entirely, but the bar for proving cause is high and the consequences of getting it wrong (a wrongful dismissal finding) are significant. Alberta’s Employer Toolkit specifically recommends seeking legal counsel before issuing a termination notice in just-cause situations.

Step 2: Calculate the statutory minimum notice period

Alberta’s Employment Standards Code, s.56, sets minimum written notice periods that scale with length of service. The confirmed anchor points are:

The Code sets additional intermediate tiers for service between 4 and 10 years; check s.56 directly or Alberta’s Employment Standards Tool Kit for the full schedule before finalizing a letter. Some employees are exempt from these statutory notice provisions altogether, but Alberta’s Employer Toolkit notes that exempt employees may still be entitled to notice under the common law, which the letter should account for (see Step 4).

Step 3: Decide between working notice, termination pay, or a combination

Under s.60 of the Code, an employer may require the employee to work through the notice period, pay “termination pay” in place of working notice, or use a combination of both. The letter should state clearly which approach applies and, if termination pay is used, confirm the amount and payment timing.

Step 4: Check for common-law exposure beyond the statutory minimum

Meeting the Code’s statutory minimum notice does not end an employer’s exposure. Alberta courts have held that employment contracts are presumed to contain an implied term requiring an employer to provide reasonable common-law notice of dismissal, a presumption that can only be displaced by clear and unambiguous contract language (Bryant v Parkland School Division, 2022 ABCA 220). In Plotnikoff v Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd, 2024 ABKB 706, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench found the employee entitled to 10 months’ reasonable notice at common law, illustrating how far common-law notice can exceed the Code’s statutory figures. The Code itself preserves the employee’s right to pursue this civil remedy regardless of statutory compliance. A termination letter that only recites the statutory minimum, without addressing whether a contract or severance offer displaces common-law notice, leaves that exposure unaddressed.

Step 5: Draft the letter’s required content

Based on Alberta’s official Sample Termination Letter guidance, the letter is a legal document and should include:

1. The termination (effective) date
2. Whether the termination is with or without cause
3. For a for-cause termination, specific reasons and references to any prior written warnings or discussions
4. The notice period or termination pay being provided, and how it was calculated
5. Any final pay, benefits continuation, or other entitlements being offered

Alberta’s guidance stresses being careful and specific about contents, since the letter may become evidence if the employee later sues for wrongful dismissal.

Step 6: Deliver the letter properly

Alberta’s Employer Toolkit is explicit that posting a termination notice on a bulletin board or other public area does not satisfy the written-notice requirement. The letter must be delivered directly to the employee, in a manner that can be confirmed and documented (in person with a witness, by hand, or by another method that establishes actual delivery).

Step 7: Have the letter reviewed before issuing

Alberta’s own guidance recommends considering legal counsel before issuing a termination notice, and treats this as good practice specifically for just-cause terminations. Given that statutory compliance does not foreclose a common-law reasonable notice claim, a review before the letter goes out, rather than after a claim arrives, is the point where problems are cheapest to fix.

Before you start: what does not apply anymore

Employers preparing for a layoff involving multiple employees do not need to follow a separate group termination notice process in Alberta; the normal individual termination notice rules apply to each affected employee instead.