What is the reasonable notice period for an employee who is terminated without advance notice?

The applicable legal principles for determining reasonable notice were described by Justice Perell in Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc.[2] as follows: • An employee who is dismissed without reasonable advance notice of termination is entitled to damages for breach of contract based on the employment income that the employee would have earned during the reasonable notice period, less any amounts received in mitigation of the loss; • The purpose of requiring reasonable notice is to give the dismissed employee an opportunity to find other employment; • In determining the length of notice, a court must apply the following considerations, on a case by case basis, in order to determine what constitutes reasonable notice of termination: o The age of the employee at termination; o The length of employment; o The character of employment; o The availability of similar employment having regard to the experience, training and qualifications of the employee; • The reasonableness of the notice turns on the facts of each case. There is no “right” figure for reasonable notice. Most cases yield a range of reasonable figures; • A longer notice period will usually be justified for older long-term employees; • Generally, the longer the duration of employment, the longer the reasonable notice period; • A longer notice period is provided for senior management or highly skilled and specialized employees and a shorter period is provided for lower rank or unspecialized employees; • Economic factors such as a downturn in the economy or in a particular industry or sector of the economy may indicate that an employee may have difficulty finding another position and may justify a longer notice period.