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Our employment lawyers serve Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Ancaster and Dundas from our Oakville office at 277 Lakeshore Road East, about 30 minutes along the QEW, and by phone and video. Termination package reviews before the deadline. Do not sign anything before speaking with us.
Book My 15-Minute Assessment →Serving Hamilton from Oakville, 277 Lakeshore Rd E | Wrongful Dismissal · Severance · Workplace Rights | Initial Assessments
Hamilton workers who are terminated by employers in the industrial east end, at the hospitals and the university, in the downtown office towers or along the Stoney Creek and Ancaster commercial corridors come to us from our Oakville office at 277 Lakeshore Road East, about 30 minutes along the QEW. Phone and video appointments are available, and for a package with a deadline they are usually the faster route.
The document is nearly always the same: a termination letter, a package at or near the Employment Standards Act minimum, and a deadline to sign a release. The Act gives one week of notice or pay per completed year of service to a maximum of eight weeks, plus statutory severance of one week per year to a maximum of 26 weeks where the employee has five or more years of service and the employer's payroll is $2.5 million or more. What the letter does not say is that the Act is a floor. Common law reasonable notice, which applies unless a valid contract excludes it, is usually many months more for a mid-career worker, and since the Court of Appeal's 2020 decision in Waksdale v. Swegon a termination clause is unenforceable if any part of it falls below the Act.
Hamilton has a long history of unionised workplaces, and that changes the analysis: a unionised employee's remedy for a dismissal is a grievance under the collective agreement, not a wrongful dismissal claim in court. We tell you at the first call which path applies. For non-union workers, claims are heard at the John Sopinka Courthouse at 45 Main Street East: Small Claims Court on the third floor for claims of up to $50,000 since 1 October 2025, and the Superior Court in the same building above that, with claims up to $200,000 using the Simplified Procedure. Most claims settle on a demand letter before anything is filed.
Send it to us. We will tell you whether the number is right, what the deadline actually means, and what your options are, in a complimentary 15-minute assessment, usually within a day.
Get My Package Reviewed Call +1 416 333 6200Most claims settle on a demand letter. When one has to be filed, Hamilton's courts share one building downtown.
Hears claims of up to $50,000 since 1 October 2025, exclusive of interest and costs, which covers many wrongful dismissal and unpaid wage claims for Hamilton workers. Settlement conference first, then trial if it does not resolve.
Claims above $50,000 for Hamilton. Claims up to $200,000 proceed under the Simplified Procedure. Constructive dismissal, human rights damages and executive severance claims are typically brought here.
An alternative to court for Employment Standards Act minimums only. Two-year limit. Filing a Ministry claim bars a court claim for the same money, so the choice is deliberate.
Package reviews within a day for terminated workers, and the full range of workplace matters for employees and employers across Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Ancaster and Dundas.
We read the letter, the contract and the package, calculate the Employment Standards Act minimum and the common law reasonable notice range, test the termination clause against Waksdale, and tell you the number the package should have said. Then we tell you whether to negotiate, accept, or sue, and what each costs.
Dismissal without adequate notice, a layoff that was really a termination, or a change to pay, hours, role or location significant enough to amount to dismissal. We send the demand, negotiate, and where necessary file at the John Sopinka Courthouse and take the claim through to judgment.
Harassment, discrimination and reprisal under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Human Rights Code, including terminations that follow a complaint, a pregnancy, a disability, a workplace injury claim or a request for accommodation.
Employment agreements with termination clauses that survive Waksdale, workplace policies that meet the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and terminations carried out in a way that limits liability rather than creating it.
Our nearest office to Hamilton is in Oakville, about 30 minutes along the QEW. Phone and video assessments are available, and for a package with a deadline that is usually the fastest route. Call us before you sign anything.
55 University Ave, Suite 1100
Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
277 Lakeshore Rd E, Suite 408
Oakville, ON L6J 1H9
About 30 min from downtown Hamilton along the QEW
90 Matheson Blvd W, Suite 101, Mississauga, ON L5R 3R3
2 Sheppard Ave East, Suite 303, Toronto, ON M2N 5Y7
Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Evenings & weekends by appointment
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