Under the Act respecting labour standards, you must give written notice to an employee before terminating the employee's contract of employment, taking into account the period of notice determined on the basis of the employee's number of years of uninterrupted service. If you do not give the employee notice in writing, or if you do not give notice within the time limit prescribed by the Act, you must pay the employee an indemnity in lieu of notice.

Salary or wages

If the employee works during the period of notice, the amount paid for this period constitutes salary or wages. The amount is subject to:

• source deductions of income tax;
• Québec Pension Plan (QPP) contributions;
• Québec parental insurance plan (QPIP) premiums;
• the contribution to the health services fund;
• the contribution related to labour standards;
• the contribution to the Workforce Skills Development and Recognition Fund (WSDRF) (if applicable).

You must also include this amount in your total payroll used to calculate your health services fund contribution rate and your participation in workforce skills development.

Retiring allowance

The indemnity in lieu of notice you pay an employee is considered a retiring allowance under the Taxation Act. The amount is subject to source deductions of income tax, QPIP premiums and the contribution related to labour standards only.