Offer Letter (Short Form) (Ontario) by OLL

OFFER LETTER [SHORT FORM]

[Employer Legal Name] [Employer Address]

[Date]

[Employee Name] [Employee Address]

Dear [Employee Name],

We are pleased to offer you employment with [Employer Legal Name] (the "Employer") on the terms set out in this letter (this "Agreement"). Please read it carefully.

Position, Start Date and Probation

Your position is [Job Title], reporting to [Title of Manager]. You will perform the duties normally associated with this position and any other duties reasonably assigned to you from time to time.

Your employment begins on [Start Date] and continues on an indefinite basis until terminated in accordance with section 7.

The first [Number] days of your employment are a probationary period, during which the Employer may terminate your employment at its discretion, subject to any minimum entitlement you have already accrued under the ESA at the time notice is given.

VERIFY the current ESA qualifying period for statutory notice entitlement and how it interacts with a contractual probationary clause of this length before relying on it.

Compensation

Your base salary is [Amount] per [year / month], payable [bi-weekly / semi-monthly / monthly], less applicable statutory deductions and withholdings.

Include if a discretionary bonus applies: You may be eligible for a discretionary bonus of up to [Amount / Percentage], subject to the Employer's bonus plan then in effect and you being actively employed and not under notice of termination on the payment date.

Hours of Work and Location

Your standard hours of work are [Number] hours per week, and your primary work location is [Address / Remote / Hybrid].

Vacation and Benefits

You are entitled to [Number] weeks of paid vacation per year / the minimum vacation entitlement required by the ESA, whichever is greater, and to public holiday pay, each calculated in accordance with the ESA.

Include if the Employer offers group benefits: You are eligible to participate in the Employer's group benefits plan, as it exists from time to time, subject to the terms of the plan and the approval of the insurer.

Confidentiality, Work Product and Return of Property

You will keep confidential all non-public information relating to the Employer's business that you acquire in the course of employment, both during and after employment, and use it only to perform your duties.

All work product, inventions, designs, code, documents and other materials you create within the scope of your employment are owned by the Employer. To the extent any of it is not automatically owned by the Employer by operation of law, you assign it to the Employer, effective on creation, and you waive all moral rights in it in the Employer's favour.

On the end of your employment for any reason, or earlier on request, you will return all Employer property, equipment and documents in your possession, and permanently delete any copies that cannot be physically returned.

Non-Solicitation

During your employment and for [Number] months after the end of your employment for any reason, you will not directly solicit any employee or customer of the Employer with whom you had material contact during the last [Number] months of your employment, for the purpose of, respectively, employment elsewhere or providing services competitive with those of the Employer. This does not prevent you from responding to a general advertisement not directed at the Employer's employees or customers.

This Agreement contains no clause restricting you from working for, or starting, a competing business after your employment ends. Under the ESA (as amended by the Working for Workers Act, 2021), a clause of that kind is void against a non-executive employee in Ontario, subject to a narrow exception this template does not use.

Termination of Employment

Termination by the Employer Without Cause

Option A — ESA minimum only

The Employer may terminate your employment at any time without cause, on providing you with the minimum notice of termination, or pay in lieu of notice, and severance pay (if applicable), required under the ESA, calculated based on your length of service as of the date notice is given. During the statutory notice period, the Employer will continue your participation in any benefit plan required to be continued under the ESA, and will make any other payment or provide any other entitlement required under the ESA. This Agreement provides no greater entitlement to notice, pay in lieu of notice, severance pay, or any other payment or benefit on termination without cause than the ESA requires.

Option B — Enhanced contractual notice

The Employer may terminate your employment at any time without cause, on providing you with the greater of (a) [Number] weeks'/months' written notice, or pay in lieu of notice, and (b) the minimum notice of termination, or pay in lieu of notice, and severance pay (if applicable), required under the ESA, calculated based on your length of service as of the date notice is given. During the applicable notice period, the Employer will continue your participation in any benefit plan required to be continued under the ESA for at least the statutory notice period.

In no event will you receive, on termination without cause, less than your minimum entitlements under the ESA.

Termination by the Employer for Cause

The Employer may terminate your employment at any time, without notice, pay in lieu of notice, or severance pay, for cause, meaning conduct that constitutes wilful misconduct, disobedience, or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned by the Employer, as that standard is defined under the ESA and its regulations.

Resignation

You may resign on providing the Employer with [Number] weeks' written notice. The Employer may, at its discretion, accept your resignation effective immediately or at any point during the notice period, with pay in lieu of the remainder of the notice period, or may require you to work through all or part of the notice period.

Constructive Dismissal

A significant, unilateral change by the Employer to a fundamental term of your employment — including compensation, position, reporting line, or work location — may, at common law, be treated as a termination of your employment by the Employer, regardless of the Employer's characterization of the change.

Effect of Termination

On the end of your employment for any reason, the Employer will pay you all wages, accrued and unused vacation pay, and any other amount earned up to the date employment ends, together with any amount owing under section 7.1 or 7.3, as applicable.

Sections 5, 6 and 8 survive the end of your employment.

Acceptance and General

This offer is open for acceptance until [Offer Expiry Date]. Please confirm your acceptance by signing and returning a copy of this letter by that date.

Include only if a fuller employment agreement is intended to follow: The Employer intends to ask you to sign a more detailed employment agreement following the start of your employment, which may include additional terms. Until you sign that agreement, this letter governs. If any term of that later agreement is less favourable to you than this letter, the Employer will provide you with something of value in exchange for accepting it.

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario. The Parties attorn to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario.

This Agreement, together with any Schedule to it, is the entire agreement between you and the Employer relating to your employment and supersedes all prior discussions, negotiations and agreements, whether written or oral, relating to that subject matter, subject to clause 8.2 if it applies.

No amendment to this Agreement is effective unless in writing and signed by both Parties. Continued employment following a proposed amendment is not, by itself, acceptance of that amendment.

If a provision of this Agreement, other than a provision within section 7, is held unenforceable, it is severed and the remainder of this Agreement continues in force.

This Agreement may be signed and delivered electronically.

We are excited about the prospect of you joining [Employer Legal Name]. If you have any questions, please contact [Contact Name] at [Contact Email/Phone].

Sincerely,

______________________ [Name] [Title], [Employer Legal Name]

Acceptance

I have read, understood and accept the terms of this offer of employment as set out above.

______________________ [Employee Name]

Date: ______________________

Schedule A — Key Terms Summary

Position: [Job Title]

Reports to: [Title of Manager]

Start date: [Start Date]

Probationary period: [Number] days

Standard hours per week: [Number]

Primary work location: [Address / Remote / Hybrid]

Base salary: [Amount] per [year / month]

Vacation entitlement: [Number] weeks per year

Offer expiry date: [Offer Expiry Date]

Without-cause notice option selected: [Option A — ESA minimum only / Option B — Enhanced: [Number] weeks/months]