Termination Pay in Alberta (2026): Notice Periods, Temporary Layoffs and Worked Examples

Alberta's Employment Standards Code gives employers a straightforward choice when they end someone's job without cause: written termination notice, termination pay instead, or a mix. The scale tops out at eight weeks, but the details are different from B.C. and Ontario in ways that change the numbers — the notice steps jump at two, four, six, eight and ten years, variable wages are averaged over 13 weeks worked, vacation pay isn't added on top, and a temporary layoff ends automatically on day 91. This guide is for Alberta employers, payroll and HR staff, and employees checking their entitlement in 2026, with worked examples in Canadian dollars.

Quick answer

An Alberta employee with more than 90 days of service must get written notice, termination pay, or both: 1 week (under 2 years), 2 weeks (2–4 years), 4 weeks (4–6), 5 weeks (6–8), 6 weeks (8–10) and 8 weeks at 10 years or more. Termination pay is the wages for regular hours over the notice period, averaged over the last 13 weeks worked if pay varies.

• No notice needed for just cause, 90 days' service or less, seasonal or fixed-term work up to 12 months, and other listed cases

• Temporary layoffs end in termination after 90 days within a 120-day period

• Group terminations (50 or more employees at a single location within a 4-week period) need 4 weeks written notice to the Minister

• Final pay: within 10 consecutive days after the end of the pay period in which employment ends or 31 consecutive days after the last day of employment — employer's choice

• Common-law notice can be far longer unless a clear contract clause limits it

The Alberta notice scale

Notice is based on how long the employee has been employed by the same employer. The steps are uneven — there's no three-week level, and the jump from six to eight weeks happens at ten years.

Employer termination notice in Alberta

Length of employment	Notice or termination pay
90 days or less	None
More than 90 days to under 2 years	1 week
2 years to under 4 years	2 weeks
4 years to under 6 years	4 weeks
6 years to under 8 years	5 weeks
8 years to under 10 years	6 weeks
10 years or more	8 weeks

90 days or less

Notice or termination pay

None

More than 90 days to under 2 years

Notice or termination pay

1 week

2 years to under 4 years

Notice or termination pay

2 weeks

4 years to under 6 years

Notice or termination pay

4 weeks

6 years to under 8 years

Notice or termination pay

5 weeks

8 years to under 10 years

Notice or termination pay

6 weeks

10 years or more

Notice or termination pay

8 weeks

The Code says an employer may terminate employment only by giving termination notice, termination pay, or a combination. Notice must be written. Working notice lets the employee keep working until the end date; termination pay ends the job immediately; a combination covers part of the period with each.

Service from earlier stints can count. If an employee worked for the same employer more than once, the periods are treated as one if no more than 90 days passed between them. A seasonal worker rehired every spring after a short winter gap may be building service all along.

Alberta has no separate statutory severance

Unlike Ontario, Alberta doesn't have a second long-service severance payment, and unlike the Canada Labour Code, it has no "two days per year" severance. Termination notice or pay is the only individual statutory amount. When people in Alberta talk about "severance", they usually mean either this termination pay or a larger common-law or negotiated package. For comparison, see our guides to termination pay in B.C. and termination pay in Ontario.

How termination pay is calculated

Termination pay must be at least what the employee would have earned working their regular hours for the notice period that isn't covered by working notice. For salaried employees and those on fixed schedules, that's simply the regular weekly pay multiplied by the weeks owed.

When wages vary from one pay period to another, the Code requires an average: total the employee's wages over the previous 13 weeks in which the employee worked before the termination, then divide by 13. Weeks with no work — a vacation, a sick spell, a layoff — are skipped, so the 13 weeks needn't be consecutive.

What goes into "wages" matters. The Code defines wages to include salary, pay, commission and other remuneration for work, but to exclude overtime pay, vacation pay, general holiday pay and termination pay, discretionary bonuses unrelated to hours or production, expense allowances, and tips. So the average is built from regular earnings only.

Calculating Alberta termination pay

1. 1

   Confirm length of employment

   Count from the start date, combining earlier periods with the same employer if the gap was 90 days or less.

2. 2

   Find the notice owed

   Read it from the scale: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 or 8 weeks.

3. 3

   Work out a regular week's wages

   Fixed pay: weekly salary or hourly rate × regular weekly hours. Variable pay: average the wages from the last 13 weeks worked, excluding overtime, holiday pay, vacation pay and tips.

4. 4

   Subtract working notice

   Multiply the weekly figure by the weeks not covered by written working notice.

5. 5

   Pay final earnings on time

   Pay termination pay with all other earnings within the deadline the employer chooses — 10 days after the pay period ends, or 31 days after the last day.

Vacation pay is not added on termination pay

This is where Alberta differs from B.C. Because the Code's definition of wages excludes termination pay, and vacation pay is calculated on wages, termination pay doesn't itself attract vacation pay. But all accrued vacation pay must be paid out with the final earnings — 4% of wages for an employee entitled to two weeks' vacation, or 6% for one entitled to three weeks after five years — calculated from the date the employee last became entitled to vacation up to the termination date. An employee terminated before earning a first vacation gets 4% of all wages earned.

Worked examples in C$

Fixed hours. Lena works 40 hours a week at C$25 an hour in a Red Deer machine shop and has 5 years' service. A regular week is C$1,000. She's owed 4 weeks: C$4,000 in termination pay, plus her accrued vacation pay paid separately.

Variable hours. Carlos works variable shifts at a Calgary restaurant and has 3 years' service. In the last 13 weeks he worked, he earned C$11,700 in wages, not counting tips, overtime or holiday pay. His average week is C$900, and he's owed 2 weeks: C$1,800.

Minimum wage, part-time. Ava works about 25 hours a week at Alberta's general minimum wage of C$15 an hour and has 14 months' service. Her regular week is C$375 and she's owed 1 week: C$375.

Long service, salaried. Raj, a project coordinator in Edmonton, earns C$91,000 a year (C$1,750 a week) and has 10 years' service. He's owed the maximum 8 weeks: C$14,000. At common law, depending on his contract, his reasonable notice could be many months.

Partial notice. An employee with 7 years' service is owed 5 weeks. The employer gives 3 weeks' written working notice, then wants the employee gone right away. It owes 2 weeks' termination pay for the shortfall.

Rules during the notice period

Once either side gives termination notice, the Code freezes the employee's terms. The employer can't reduce wages, the wage rate or any other term or condition of employment between the notice and the termination date — whether or not the employee is actually required to work. The employee stays employed during that period unless the employer pays termination pay instead, or ends the employment for one of the listed reasons such as just cause.

Three more rules protect the notice period:

• No forced use of entitlements. The employer can't require the employee to use banked overtime during notice without a written agreement, and can't make them take annual vacation during notice unless it gave proper vacation notice before the termination notice.
• Notice expires if work continues. A termination notice has no effect if the employee keeps working for the same employer after the termination date it specified.
• Expediting after the employee resigns. If the employee gives notice and the employer wants them to leave sooner, the employer pays regular wages for the rest of the employee's notice period — or, if the employee gave more notice than the employer would have had to give, for the rest of the employer's required notice period.

Worked example. Dana, with 5 years' service, gives 2 weeks' written notice of resignation. Her employer would have owed 4 weeks to terminate her, so her notice is shorter than the employer's. If the employer tells her to leave on the day she resigns, it owes 2 weeks' regular wages — the rest of her own notice period.

Who isn't entitled to notice or termination pay

The Code lists the situations where the employer doesn't have to give termination notice. They are:

• dismissal for just cause
• employment of 90 days or less
• employment for a definite term or task of 12 months or less that ends on completion
• a layoff after refusing reasonable alternative work offered by the employer
• refusing work available through a seniority system
• no work because of a strike or lockout at the workplace
• an arrangement where the employee can choose whether to work each time they're asked
• a contract that has become impossible to perform for unforeseeable reasons beyond the employer's control
• seasonal employment that ends when the season ends
• employment that ends under the temporary layoff and recall rules — for example, an employee who doesn't return within 7 days of a recall notice

The Government of Alberta also notes that construction and brush-clearing employees are excluded from the termination notice rules by regulation.

Just cause is the exemption employers lean on most and lose most often. The burden of proof is on the employer, which must show the misconduct was serious enough to justify dismissal and, for performance or conduct problems, that the employee knew what would happen if it continued. Temporary illness, a personality conflict, or a single incident without warning generally won't meet the test. If just cause fails, termination pay is owed — and possibly common-law damages too.

Alberta termination rules at a glance (2026)

8 weeks

Maximum statutory notice

10 years' service or more

13 weeks

Averaging period for variable pay

90 in 120 days

Temporary layoff limit

7 days

To return after a recall notice

Temporary layoffs

An Alberta employer that wants to keep the employment relationship while there's no work may temporarily lay off an employee only by giving a written layoff notice before the layoff starts. The notice must say it's a temporary layoff notice, give the start date, and include a copy of sections 62 to 64 of the Code. A former subsection setting a minimum advance-notice period was repealed in 2020, so the requirement now is simply written notice before the layoff begins.

The layoff can last up to 90 days within a 120-day period in total, counting separate layoff periods together. If the employee hasn't been recalled by then, the employment terminates on day 91 and termination pay becomes payable, calculated as if the employer had given termination pay under the normal rules. There are two ways the period can run longer:

• the employee agrees to the employer continuing to pay wages or an amount instead of wages, or to keep up pension or insurance plan payments, during the layoff — when those payments stop, the employment ends and termination pay is due; or
• a collective agreement gives recall rights, in which case the employment ends when those rights expire, unless the agreement says otherwise.

To bring someone back, the employer serves a written recall notice requiring the employee to return within 7 days. If the employee doesn't come back in time and the employer then terminates them, no notice or termination pay is owed.

A caution for non-union employers: the Code permits temporary layoffs, but the Government of Alberta notes that some courts have found a layoff without a contractual right to lay off can be a constructive dismissal, opening the door to a wrongful dismissal claim. Make sure employment contracts give an express right to lay off before relying on one.

Worked example. A Lethbridge manufacturer lays off Hana on 1 February with a proper written notice and no continued payments. By 1 May she has been on layoff for 90 days and hasn't been recalled. On day 91 her employment ends, and her employer owes termination pay based on her service and regular wages — and must pay it with her other earnings within the final-pay deadline.

Group terminations

When an employer intends to terminate 50 or more employees at a single location within a 4-week period, it must give the Minister written notice at least 4 weeks before the first termination takes effect. If that isn't possible, notice must be given as soon as reasonable and practicable. The notice must state the number of employees affected and the effective dates. Seasonal employees and those hired for a definite term or task aren't covered.

Alberta's group rule is lighter than its neighbours'. B.C. requires 8 to 16 weeks of extra notice or pay to each employee, and Ontario 8 to 16 weeks depending on numbers. In Alberta, the group notice goes to the Minister, and each employee's entitlement is still their individual notice or termination pay under the normal scale. Federally regulated employers in Alberta, by contrast, must give the federal Labour Program 16 weeks' notice for 50 or more terminations.

Code minimums vs common-law notice

The Code is a floor. A non-union Alberta employee dismissed without cause is also entitled to reasonable notice at common law, unless their contract clearly and unambiguously limits them to the Code. Alberta courts apply that test strictly. In Bryant v Parkland School Division (2022 ABCA 220), the Court of Appeal held that a clause allowing termination on "sixty (60) days or more written notice" didn't displace common-law notice, because "or more" set no upper limit.

Reasonable notice is set using the Bardal factors — age, length of service, character of the job and the availability of similar work. Twenty-four months has long been treated as a rough ceiling. In Lischuk v K-Jay Electric (2025 ABKB 460), the Court of King's Bench awarded 26 months to a 55-year-old general manager with 34 years' service, reported as the first Alberta award above 24 months, citing exceptional circumstances.

For employers, the lesson is to use a clear termination clause that never promises less than the Code and states plainly that the Code amounts are all the employee will receive. For employees, it's worth getting advice before accepting only the statutory amount. Complaints about unpaid termination pay go to Alberta Employment Standards, generally within 6 months of the last day of work.

Final pay, tax and the ROE

All final earnings — wages, overtime, general holiday pay, vacation pay and termination pay — must be paid within one of two periods the employer chooses: 10 consecutive days after the end of the pay period in which employment ends, or 31 consecutive days after the last day of employment. Check whether a general holiday in Alberta falls in the final weeks, because holiday pay may also be owing.

The Canada Revenue Agency treats wages in lieu of termination notice as employment income, so CPP, EI and income tax are deducted as for regular pay — see our payroll deductions guide. Amounts paid as damages for wrongful dismissal under a settlement are generally a retiring allowance, with income tax but no CPP or EI deducted. Then issue the Record of Employment on time.

Ending employment in Alberta — employer checklist

0/9

• Confirm length of employment, combining earlier periods with gaps of 90 days or less
• Check whether a listed exemption genuinely applies — and that just cause can be proven
• Give written notice, termination pay or a mix, never below the scale
• Use the 13-weeks-worked average for variable wages, excluding overtime, holiday pay, vacation pay and tips
• Don't cut wages or terms, or force vacation or banked overtime, during notice
• Pay accrued vacation pay with final earnings
• Pay within 10 days after the pay period or 31 days after the last day
• For 50+ terminations at one site in 4 weeks, notify the Minister 4 weeks ahead
• Issue the Record of Employment

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Common mistakes

Assuming three weeks at three years. Alberta goes from 2 weeks straight to 4 weeks at four years. Using another province's scale over- or underpays.

Letting a layoff run past 90 days. Without agreed continued payments or a collective agreement, employment ends on day 91 and termination pay becomes payable.

Skipping the written layoff notice. A layoff without a proper notice may be treated as a termination, or a constructive dismissal.

Adding vacation pay to termination pay — or forgetting accrued vacation. Termination pay itself doesn't attract vacation pay in Alberta, but every dollar of accrued vacation pay must be paid out.

Relying on a vague contract clause. "Or more", references to "at least" the statutory minimum, or clauses that contradict each other can all leave the employer owing common-law notice.

Official links

• Alberta — termination and termination payNotice scale, exclusions, group termination
• Alberta — temporary layoffsLayoff notice, 90-day limit, recall
• Employment Standards Code (King's Printer)Sections 8, 54–64 and 137
• CRA — retiring allowancesTax treatment of termination payments

What to do next

Before you give notice, confirm the employee's start date and any earlier stints, pull the last 13 weeks worked if their pay varies, and decide on your final-pay deadline. If you're considering a layoff instead, prepare a written layoff notice that includes sections 62 to 64 and diarize day 90. Then prepare the Record of Employment and use our salary slip generator to show termination pay, vacation pay and final wages as separate lines.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

How much termination pay is required in Alberta?

Under the Employment Standards Code, an employee with more than 90 days of service gets written notice or termination pay of 1 week (under 2 years), 2 weeks (2 to under 4), 4 weeks (4 to under 6), 5 weeks (6 to under 8), 6 weeks (8 to under 10) or 8 weeks (10 years or more). Termination pay equals the wages for regular hours over that period.

How is termination pay calculated in Alberta?

For employees with steady wages, it's what they would have earned working regular hours for the notice period. If wages vary, average the wages from the previous 13 weeks in which the employee worked before termination and multiply by the weeks owed. Overtime, general holiday pay and vacation pay are left out of the wages used.

Is there severance pay in Alberta?

Alberta's Employment Standards Code has no separate severance payment. Termination notice or termination pay of up to 8 weeks is the statutory entitlement. Employees whose contracts don't clearly limit them to the Code can also claim common-law reasonable notice, which courts set using age, service, position and the job market, and which has exceeded 24 months in exceptional cases.

How long can a temporary layoff last in Alberta?

A temporary layoff can last up to 90 days within a 120-day period in total. On day 91 the employment ends and termination pay is payable, unless the employee agrees to continued wage or benefit payments during the layoff, or a collective agreement provides recall rights. The employer must give a written layoff notice before the layoff starts.

When must final pay be paid in Alberta?

The employer chooses one of two deadlines: within 10 consecutive days after the end of the pay period in which employment ends, or within 31 consecutive days after the last day of employment. Final earnings include wages, overtime, general holiday pay, vacation pay and termination pay.

How much notice does an employee have to give to quit in Alberta?

An employee must give written notice of 1 week after more than 90 days and under 2 years of service, and 2 weeks after 2 years or more. No notice is needed in some cases, such as when the employee has 90 days' service or less, is on temporary layoff, or quits because of a cut in wage rate, vacation pay or other entitlements.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 13 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Employment Standards Code, RSA 2000, c. E-9 (current as of 26 November 2025) — Alberta King's Printer · accessed 13 October 2026
2. 2.Termination and termination pay — Government of Alberta · accessed 13 October 2026
3. 3.Temporary layoffs — Government of Alberta · accessed 13 October 2026
4. 4.Retiring allowances — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 13 October 2026
5. 5.Termination of employment (federally regulated employers) — Employment and Social Development Canada · accessed 13 October 2026
6. 6.Alberta King's Bench exceeds the traditional 24-month upper limit for the first time — DLA Piper · accessed 13 October 2026
7. 7.Alberta Court of Appeal strikes down termination clause in employment contract — Bennett Jones · accessed 13 October 2026