Imagine spending several weeks away from work because a doctor has advised you to take medical leave. You notify your employer, provide the requested medical documentation, and receive assurances that you should focus on getting better. Then, while you are still away from work, an email arrives informing you that your employment has been terminated because of a “restructuring.”

For many Ontario employees, that situation can be deeply unsettling.

A recent discussion in the Reddit community r/LitigationPioneers described a situation involving an Ontario worker who said they were terminated while on medical leave. The employee’s account raises questions about medical leave, disability-related workplace protections, termination packages, restructuring and the circumstances that may need to be examined when an employee loses their job during an absence.

The original discussion provides the employee’s account and can be found here: Fired While on Medical Leave in Ontario – Reddit discussion.

Although an online post cannot establish whether an employer acted unlawfully, the situation provides an opportunity to examine how Ontario employment law approaches employees who are absent from work because of a medical condition.

A Termination During Medical Leave Is Not Automatically Illegal

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding medical leave is the idea that an employer can never terminate an employee who is away from work for medical reasons.

The legal reality is more complicated.

An employee’s medical absence may be protected by employment standards legislation, human-rights legislation, an employment contract or several of these protections at the same time. However, the existence and extent of those protections depend on the circumstances.

At the same time, an employer cannot simply avoid statutory protections by describing a termination as a “restructuring” if the evidence establishes that the employee was actually penalized for exercising a protected right.

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 now specifically provides eligible employees with a long-term illness leave of up to 27 weeks in a 52-week period where the statutory requirements are met. The leave came into effect on June 19, 2025.

That change is particularly important when assessing modern Ontario employment disputes involving serious medical conditions.

Ontario’s New Long-Term Illness Leave

Ontario’s current rules give qualifying employees an important statutory protection that did not previously exist in this exact form.

Under the Employment Standards Act, an employee generally needs to have been employed for at least 13 consecutive weeks and must be unable to perform the duties of their position because of a serious medical condition. A certificate from a qualified health practitioner must state that the employee has a serious medical condition and specify the period during which the employee will not be working because of that condition.

The maximum entitlement is 27 weeks within a 52-week period.

The legislation also recognizes that a serious medical condition can be chronic or episodic. The leave does not necessarily have to be taken as one uninterrupted block, subject to the statutory rules governing how the entitlement is calculated.

For an employee facing termination during a medical absence, identifying whether the absence qualifies for this statutory leave can therefore be an important first step.

Employers Cannot Penalize Employees for Exercising Protected Leave Rights

The protection does not end with the number of weeks available.

Ontario’s government guidance specifically states that an employer cannot threaten, fire or otherwise penalize an employee because the employee has taken, plans to take, is eligible for, or is in a position to become eligible for long-term illness leave.

This creates an important distinction.

An employer may have legitimate business reasons for terminating employees. Businesses can reorganize, eliminate positions, reduce staffing or change their operations.

But if the termination is connected to an employee exercising a protected statutory right, the legal analysis can be very different.

The question therefore is not simply:

“Was the employee terminated while sick?”

A more useful question is:

“What was the actual reason for the termination, and was the employee exercising a protected right when the decision was made?”

That distinction can be critical.

Why the Timing of a Termination May Matter

Consider a hypothetical sequence of events.

An employee works normally for years. They receive no warning that their position is being eliminated. They then provide medical documentation and begin an approved absence. Shortly afterward, they receive a termination letter stating that their position has been eliminated because of restructuring.

The timing does not, by itself, prove that the medical leave caused the termination.

However, it may raise questions that deserve closer examination.

For example:

• Was restructuring already being discussed before the medical leave?
• Were other employees terminated at the same time?
• Did the employee’s position actually disappear?
• Was another person hired to perform substantially the same work?
• Did management communicate about the employee’s absence before the termination?
• What did the employer know about the medical condition?
• Was the employee taking a statutory leave?
• What does the employment contract say about termination?
• Was the employee asked to sign a release in exchange for severance?

These questions can help distinguish an ordinary business reorganization from a termination that potentially engages employment standards or human-rights protections.

Disability Protection Can Be Separate From Employment Standards Leave

An employee does not necessarily have to rely only on the Employment Standards Act.

The Ontario Human Rights Code also provides protections relating to disability in employment.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission explains that disability protections apply to numerous aspects of employment, including dismissal and layoffs. The Commission also recognizes that accommodation may include disability-related leave and other workplace adjustments.

This is significant because not every medical condition or medical absence will be handled in exactly the same way under employment standards legislation and human-rights law.

A person may have an issue involving statutory leave, disability discrimination, accommodation, wrongful dismissal, or multiple issues at once.

The appropriate legal framework depends on the facts.

What Does the Duty to Accommodate Mean?

The duty to accommodate is another important part of the discussion.

Under Ontario’s human-rights framework, employers may have a duty to accommodate disability-related needs up to the point of undue hardship. The Ontario Human Rights Commission explains that accommodation can involve measures such as modified duties, flexible work arrangements, changes to policies, specialized equipment, alternative work and short- or long-term disability leave.

That does not mean an employee is guaranteed an indefinite absence from work.

The duty to accommodate is fact-specific. Factors can include the employee’s limitations, the essential duties of the position, the expected duration of the absence, the possibility of a return to work and whether accommodation can be provided without undue hardship.

The Commission has also emphasized that there is no universal fixed period after which an employer automatically satisfies its accommodation obligations simply because an employee has been absent for a certain number of months.

This makes individualized assessment particularly important.

Medical Information and Employee Privacy

Another issue that often causes confusion is how much medical information an employee needs to provide.

An employer may legitimately need information that allows it to understand an employee’s functional restrictions, accommodation requirements and expected return-to-work timeline.

That does not necessarily mean the employer is entitled to every detail contained in an employee’s medical records.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission states that employers generally do not have a right to confidential medical information such as a diagnosis or treatment details unless that information is relevant to the accommodation being requested or additional information is justified by particularly complex circumstances.

This distinction can be important for employees dealing with mental-health-related absences, chronic conditions or other sensitive medical circumstances.

An employee may need to establish the need for leave or accommodation without providing unnecessary private medical details.

What About a Company Claiming “Restructuring”?

The word “restructuring” can cover many different business decisions.

A company may genuinely reorganize its workforce for financial, operational or strategic reasons. A position may disappear, departments may be consolidated, or responsibilities may be redistributed.

However, the label attached to a termination is not necessarily the end of the legal inquiry.

Where a termination occurs during a protected medical leave, an employee may reasonably want to understand whether the restructuring was genuine and whether the termination was connected in any way to the employee’s leave or disability.

For that reason, documents can become extremely important.

An employee should consider preserving:

1. The employment agreement.
2. The original job offer.
3. Medical-leave correspondence.
4. Emails with managers and human-resources personnel.
5. The medical certificate provided to the employer.
6. The termination letter or email.
7. Any severance proposal.
8. Pay statements.
9. Workplace policies.
10. Messages discussing restructuring or staffing changes.

A chronological record can make it much easier to understand what happened.

Four Weeks of Severance Does Not Necessarily Answer Everything

In the Reddit discussion, the employee reportedly received an offer involving four weeks of severance.

That figure should not automatically be treated as either sufficient or insufficient without examining the circumstances.

Termination entitlements can depend on the Employment Standards Act, the employee’s length of service, the wording of the employment contract and common-law principles where applicable.

For that reason, employees should be cautious about assuming that the number of weeks offered by an employer is necessarily the full amount to which they are entitled.

The contract may contain a termination clause. That clause may have significant legal consequences. Depending on the wording and circumstances, an employee may have rights beyond the employer’s initial offer.

Employment lawyers, including firms that regularly handle Ontario termination disputes, often review the employment agreement and termination documents before advising an employee whether a proposed package should be accepted.

For information about Ontario employment law, wrongful dismissal and related workplace issues, employees can also review the resources available through HTW Law’s official website.

Should an Employee Sign the Severance Agreement Immediately?

This is another point where caution can be important.

Employers sometimes provide termination packages that include a deadline for acceptance and a release.

A release can be significant because it may require an employee to give up certain legal claims in exchange for the payment offered.

That does not mean an employer is doing something improper by presenting a release. Releases are common in employment settlements.

However, employees should understand what they are signing before accepting one.

A person who believes their termination may involve medical leave, disability discrimination or a statutory reprisal may want to obtain independent legal advice before signing documents that could affect future rights.

What If the Employer Really Did Restructure?

It is also important to consider the employer’s perspective.

A genuine restructuring can occur at any time, including while an employee happens to be on medical leave.

The fact that an employee was absent when a business decision was implemented does not automatically mean the decision was motivated by the employee’s health.

For example, if a company eliminates an entire department, terminates several employees and permanently removes the affected positions, the circumstances may look very different from a situation in which only one employee on medical leave is dismissed while their duties continue substantially unchanged.

This is why objective evidence matters.

Rather than assuming that the employer’s explanation is either automatically correct or automatically false, the surrounding facts should be examined.

What Employees Can Learn From This Type of Situation

The Reddit story demonstrates why employees should understand their rights before signing away potential claims.

A medical leave can involve several overlapping legal concepts:

Statutory leave concerns rights created by employment standards legislation.

Human-rights protection can address discrimination and accommodation related to disability.

Wrongful dismissal can involve notice and compensation issues arising from the termination of employment.

Reprisal protection can apply where an employer penalizes an employee for exercising certain rights under employment legislation. Ontario’s employment standards guidance expressly identifies reprisals as prohibited and provides for potential remedies where a reprisal occurs.

These categories can overlap, but they are not interchangeable.

That is why the precise circumstances surrounding a termination matter so much.

A Practical Checklist for Ontario Employees

If you are terminated while on medical leave, consider taking the following steps:

1. Keep the termination documents

Do not delete the email, letter or attachments. Save copies somewhere you can access later.

2. Preserve your employment contract

The termination clause may be particularly important when determining potential entitlements.

3. Record the timeline

Write down when your medical leave began, when your employer was notified and when you received the termination notice.

4. Preserve communications

Keep emails, text messages and other communications concerning your leave and employment status.

5. Review the reason for termination

If the employer says “restructuring,” consider what evidence exists concerning the restructuring.

6. Do not rush to sign

A termination package may contain more than a payment calculation. It may include a release and other legal terms.

7. Get advice where necessary

An Ontario employment lawyer can assess the contract, termination package and circumstances surrounding the dismissal and explain what legal avenues may be available.

Conclusion: The Details Behind the Termination Matter

Being dismissed while on medical leave can be an emotionally difficult experience, but the legal analysis should focus on the facts rather than the timing alone.

Ontario’s current employment standards legislation provides eligible workers with job-protected long-term illness leave of up to 27 weeks in a 52-week period when the statutory requirements are satisfied. Employers are prohibited from penalizing employees for exercising protected leave rights.

At the same time, the Ontario Human Rights Code can provide additional protection where disability and accommodation issues arise. Employers may have a duty to accommodate disability-related needs, subject to the legal standard of undue hardship.

None of this means that every termination during medical leave is unlawful. A genuine restructuring may still occur while an employee is absent. The important question is whether the employer’s decision complied with the employee’s statutory, contractual and human-rights protections.

For employees confronted with a termination during a medical absence, the safest approach is often to preserve the evidence, carefully review the employment agreement and termination documents, and obtain appropriate legal advice before signing a release.

The story discussed on Reddit is ultimately a reminder that a short termination email can conceal a much more complicated employment-law situation. The reason given for termination, the employee’s legal status while on leave, the employer’s knowledge, the surrounding timeline and the terms of the proposed severance package may all matter when determining what happens next.