11.00 Notice of Termination of Employment or Layoff

11.01. Prior notice: An employer shall give an employee written notice before terminating his work contract or laying him off for 6 months or more. The notice shall be given 1 week before if the employee has less than 1 year of continuous service, 2 weeks before if he has from 1 to 5 years of continuous service, 4 weeks before if he has from 5 to 10 years of continuous service and 8 weeks before if he has 10 years or more of continuous service. A notice of termination of employment given to an employee while he is laid off is absolutely null, except in the case of employment that does not usually last longer than 6 months due to seasonal influences.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-2, r. 40, s. 11.01; O.C. 1808-92, s. 22; O.C. 736-2005, s. 20.

11.02. Section 11.01 does not apply in the case of an employee:

(1) who has less than 3 months of continuous service;

(2) whose contract for a specific length of time or for a specific undertaking expires;

(3) who is guilty of gross negligence;

(4) whose termination of work contract or layoff is the result of a fortuitous event.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-2, r. 40, s. 11.02; O.C. 1808-92, s. 22.

11.03. The employer who does not give notice as set out in section 11.01 or who gives notice within an insufficient length of time shall pay the employee a compensating indemnity equal to his regular wages, not taking into account overtime, for a period equal to the notice period or the time remaining in the notice period to which he was entitled.

The indemnity shall be paid at the time of the termination of employment or at the beginning of a layoff expected to last longer than 6 months or upon the expiry of 6 months of a layoff of undetermined length or expected to last less than 6 months but that exceeds that length of time.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-2, r. 40, s. 11.03; O.C. 1808-92, s. 22.