Kimberlee is CEO of JumpZone!' (a trampoline event space) which has fallen on hard times since the pandemic. She needs to cut costs and is looking at reducing her staff but is worried about the costs of termination pay. She might need to fire over 50 employees in the next six months but is hoping not to have to do so. She wonders if instead she can instead 'lay off' some employees for a short time.

There are three employees in particular she is considering: Aeliyah, who has worked for 11 years, but who was caught on camera assaulting a customer who swore at her; Bao, who was just hired last year, is a nice guy but is always messing up in one way or another and just can't seem to do the job; and, thirdly, Cassius, who has worked for 5 years and historically has been a good employee but seems stressed and just yesterday yelled at his manager for having to ask him a number of times to finish a task. He swore at her and left early and didn't come in today.

First, Kimberlee wants to know if she can 'lay-off' any of these employees, so she doesn't have fire anyone. Would there be any issues with her doing this under either the ESA or Common Law?

Alternatively, Kimberlee wants to know if she can fire any or all these 3 employees for 'cause' under either the ESA or Common Law, so she doesn't have to pay them any sort of notice. If not, how would she calculate what each be entitled to under the ESA and under Common Law? Are there any unstated factors might affect the calculation? If so, what are they and how would they? What would be your advice to Kimberlee?

These are all employees on indefinite term contracts with no contractual clauses dealing with layoffs or termination. They are not unionized and work in Ontario.

For the purposes of this question, do not worry about legislation other than the ESA that might affect any of the employees.