What Should I Do If I'm Fired or Terminated in Alberta?

The steps to take after a termination or layoff in Alberta

1. Confirm what actually happened: a permanent termination, a temporary layoff, or a dismissal the employer says is “for cause.”
2. If it was a layoff, check the 90-day clock.
3. Confirm outstanding wages arrive by the legal deadline.
4. Work out what termination pay or severance you’re owed, and whether common-law severance applies.
5. Get your Record of Employment (ROE) so you can apply for EI.
6. If you believe you’re owed more than you received, file an Employment Standards complaint.
7. If discrimination played a role, consider a separate Human Rights complaint.

Each of these is covered below.

Step 1: Identify what type of job loss this is

Alberta’s Employment Standards Code treats a straightforward termination without cause, a temporary layoff, and a dismissal the employer characterizes as “for cause” differently, and the entitlements differ accordingly. If the employer told you the job is ending permanently, you’re in termination territory. If you were told to stay home with the possibility of being called back, that’s a layoff, which has its own timeline. Getting this distinction right at the outset matters because it determines which deadline and which complaint route applies later.

Step 2: If it was a layoff, check the 90-day limit

In Alberta, the maximum duration of a temporary layoff is 90 days within a 120-day period. If that period passes without recall, or without the employer giving proper notice of the layoff in the first place, the employee may have grounds to claim unjust or constructive dismissal, meaning the layoff is treated as a termination for the purposes of pay and notice.

Step 3: Confirm your outstanding wages are paid on time

Under the Employment Standards Code, an employer must pay outstanding earnings, including any statutory termination pay, within 10 consecutive days after the end of the pay period in which the termination occurred, or within 31 consecutive days after the last day of employment (whichever applies). If that deadline passes without payment, that alone is grounds to raise the issue with Employment Standards.

Step 4: Work out what you’re owed, statutory and common-law

If your wages varied (commission, variable hours, and similar), Alberta calculates statutory termination pay using a 13-week average of your regular hours worked before the termination date. That covers the legal minimum.

Anything beyond the statutory minimum is a common-law entitlement, not something the Employment Standards Code itself provides. Alberta courts assess common-law reasonable notice using the Bardal factors (things like age, length of service, character of employment, and availability of similar work), and recent case law treats 24 months as a rough upper limit for that notice period absent truly exceptional circumstances. Because this calculation is fact-specific and not set out in a government table, employees are generally advised to get legal advice before accepting or signing off on a severance offer.

Step 5: Get your Record of Employment

Federally, every employer must issue a Record of Employment (ROE) whenever an employee’s earnings are interrupted, including at termination. The ROE is the key document used to apply for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, and this requirement applies the same way in every province, including Alberta and Ontario.

Step 6: File an Employment Standards complaint if you think you’re owed more

An employee who believes they haven’t been paid what they’re entitled to, including someone who believes they were constructively dismissed through an improperly handled layoff, can make an Employment Standards complaint. In Alberta, that complaint is free, can be made while still employed or at any time up to 6 months after the last day of employment, and the process is set out under Part 3, section 82 of the Employment Standards Code. The employer is prohibited from retaliating against an employee for making or planning to make a complaint.

Separately, if 50 or more employees at one location are being let go within a 4-week period, the employer has its own obligation: it must give the Minister at least 4 weeks’ written notice and file a Notice to Minister of Group Terminations form. That obligation runs to government, not to the individual employee, but it’s a sign of whether the employer followed the rules.

Step 7: Consider a Human Rights complaint if discrimination was involved

The Alberta Human Rights Act prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee with regard to any term or condition of employment, including termination, on the basis of protected grounds such as race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, disability, age, or family status. If the termination appears connected to one of these grounds, that is a separate legal avenue from an Employment Standards complaint, and both can potentially be pursued depending on the facts.