Termination notice · Nunavut
Nunavut notice of termination.
The statutory MINIMUM notice period (or pay in lieu) Nunavut law requires when an employer ends employment without cause — not severance pay, and not the longer "reasonable notice" a court can award.
Nothing is owed under Nunavut law before 90 days (about 3 months), averaging at least 25 hours a week. After that, notice rises with length of service to a maximum of 8 weeks.
Inputs
Minimum notice owed
Fill the form and press Calculate.
Nunavut's graduated notice scale
| Length of continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Under 3 months | None |
| 3 months to under 3 years | 2 weeks |
| 3 years or more | 1 week per completed year of service (max 8) |
Labour Standards Act. The qualifying period is set in days (90 days) and also requires averaging at least 25 hours a week — converted here to its nearest month equivalent. Nunavut’s Labour Standards Act descends from the same pre-1999 Northwest Territories ordinance as the NWT’s, and the administering office states the same shape: notice grows one week per year of service past 3 years, to a maximum of 8 weeks (i.e. weeks equal years of service once past year 3) — this specific formula-equivalence with NWT is inferred from that shared legislative history, not independently quoted from a Nunavut-specific worked example.
Exemptions
Construction industry; seasonal or intermittent work under 180 days a year; a fixed term or task of 365 days or less ending naturally; work averaging under 25 hours a week.
Source, last verified 26 September 2026: Nunavut Labour Standards Compliance Office — Rules for ending employment.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as severance pay?
No. Notice of termination and severance pay are two separate entitlements. Severance pay exists as a distinct statutory entitlement only federally and in Ontario (above a service and payroll-size threshold), and is calculated completely differently. This page covers notice PERIOD LENGTH only.
Can my employer pay me instead of giving working notice?
Yes. Nunavut law allows the employer to pay wages in lieu of some or all of the working notice period.
Does this apply if I was fired for cause?
No. These minimums apply when an employer ends employment WITHOUT cause. A genuine, provable case of just cause (serious misconduct, for example) removes the statutory notice entitlement entirely in every Canadian jurisdiction.
Could I be owed more than this?
Often, yes. This is only the LEGISLATED MINIMUM. A written employment contract can specify more (never less), and if you have no contract term covering notice, a court can award much longer "reasonable notice" under common law (or, in Quebec, civil law) — frequently several months per year of service for longer-tenured employees. That figure is fact-specific and is not something a statute publishes a table for; it is not modelled here.
Estimate only — not legal advice
This calculator produces an estimate of the statutory MINIMUM notice period only, from the published employment-standards legislation. It is not legal advice and it is not a determination of what you are owed. It does not model group/mass termination rules, temporary layoffs, fixed-term contracts, or common-law/civil-law reasonable notice, which can all change the answer.
For a binding answer, contact the employment-standards office named above or a lawyer.