Nova Scotia Severance Pay Calculator

Nova Scotia's Labour Standards Code requires written notice of termination (or pay in lieu) based on length of service: one week after three months, rising to eight weeks after ten years. There is no separate statutory 'severance pay' beyond this notice entitlement — but Nova Scotia is unusual in that long-service employees gain strong protection against dismissal.

• 1 week's notice or pay in lieu after 3 months but less than two years of service.
• 2 weeks after 2 years but less than five years.
• 4 weeks after 5 years but less than ten years.
• 8 weeks after 10 years or more — and at this point the employee generally cannot be dismissed at all without just cause.
• No statutory notice is required in the first three months of employment, or where there is just cause.
• A period of notice cannot include a week of the employee's vacation unless the employee agrees to take vacation during the notice.

Nova Scotia's 10-year 'just cause' protection is one of the strongest statutory job-security rules in Canada — after a decade of service, an employer generally cannot end the employment without cause even with pay in lieu. Outside that protection, dismissed non-unionized employees can still claim common-law reasonable notice, which is frequently much higher than the statutory weeks shown here. Confirm with an employment lawyer before a dismissal.

• Government of Nova Scotia — When the Employer Ends the Employment (Labour Standards Code)