Can my employer relieve me of duties prior to my resignation date?

There may be a variety of good business reasons to relieve an employee of duties prior to their last day of work.  For example, if the employee is heading over to the competition, there may be viable conflict of interest concerns if the employee continues to have access to the employer’s confidential and proprietary information that may be leaked to a competitor.    

That said, if the employer relieves an employee of duties prior to his or her intended date of resignation, they should generally be paid as though they continued to actively work through to the end of the resignation notice period. 

This includes payment of any wages, incentive pay, commissions, or bonuses that would be due and payable to the employee up to the planned resignation date.   

If the employer relieves the employee of duties and fails to pay the employee during the resignation notice period, this may be considered a dismissal or constructive dismissal, entitling the employee to damages for loss of earnings during the resignation notice period and potentially a severance package. Providing notice of your resignation is generally not grounds for an employer to dismiss the employee for cause, even if the employee intends to leave in favour of a competitor. 

If the employee already has another job lined up, those damages may not necessarily be significant, however, at a minimum, the employee could be entitled to their statutory termination payments, which can vary anywhere between zero and 34 weeks depending on their length of service. Further, if the employee lands a lower paying job, they could be entitled to compensation for earnings loss beyond the statutory termination payments.