Drawing from previous court guidance, the court noted that “the interpretation of employment contracts is one of several areas in which policy goals other than interpretative accuracy affect the interpretative process” and unless there is contrary contractual language, employment contracts “will be interpreted in a manner which further employment law principles, specifically the protection of employees who are vulnerable in dealings with their employers.”
The court referenced guidance establishing that “an employment agreement must be interpreted as a whole and not on a piecemeal basis” and courts should focus on “whether the employer has, in restricting an employee’s common law rights on termination, violated the employee’s Employment Standards Act rights.”
The court applied the demanding standard which held that limiting common law notice requires clear language.
Previous precedent established that “employment contracts for an indefinite period require the employer, absent express contractual language to the contrary, to give reasonable notice of an intention to terminate the contract if the dismissal is without cause.”
The court found the termination provision ambiguous, particularly where the qualifier “to which you are entitled under the Nova Scotia Labour Standards legislation” could reasonably “be read such that it does not apply to the notice of termination” and instead “may be read to only apply to the severance pay.”