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Employment law - Labour standards - Notice of termination - During period of notice given by employee to employer in accordance with art. 2091 of Civil Code of Québec, S.Q. 1991, c. 64, whether employer can resiliate contract of employment without paying employee remuneration or even compensatory indemnity under s. 83 of Act respecting labour standards, R.S.Q., c. N 1.1.

From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Guay worked for the respondent, Asphalte Desjardins Inc., which earned more than 80% of its income from road paving contracts. During that period, there were also times when Mr. Guay worked for other employers. He initially worked as a surveyor and then became project manager. As part of his duties, he had to supervise the work and manage tenders, invoicing and the performance of the work as such. He therefore had access to information that should not end up in the hands of competing companies, such as prices provided when tendering and performance costs.

On Friday, February 15, 2008, Mr. Guay gave the controller of Asphalte Desjardins a letter stating that he intended to resign and leave his job permanently on March 7 of that year. He stated that he was leaving to join a competitor that was offering him better salary terms. He said that the three weeks between the date he handed in his letter and the date he actually left would be used to finalize files and draw up a history of work in progress in more than 50 files, which would facilitate his successor’s work. On February 18, officers of Asphalte Desjardins tried to convince Mr. Guay to stay, but they could not meet his demands. In the circumstances, the employer decided to terminate the contract of employment the next day, February 19, rather than waiting until March 7.

The Commission des normes du travail, which may institute in its own name, and on behalf of an employee, proceedings to recover amounts due by the employer under the Act respecting labour standards, claimed from Asphalte Desjardins: (1) pay in lieu of notice of $6,149.99; (2) annual leave totalling $369; and (3) an indemnity of 20%, or $1,303.80, under s. 114 of the Act. Although in its opinion Mr. Guay was entitled to claim four weeks’ notice under s. 82 of that Act because of his years of service, the Commission claimed only three weeks, which was the time between the date the employee had expressed his desire to resign and the effective resignation date, minus the days for which he had been paid. The Commission claimed annual leave in the same proportion.