Innodata Layoffs: What Ontario Employees Are Owed in Severance
Innodata chose the deadline on your letter; no law set it. The ESA minimum is counted in weeks, and the common law usually adds months on top.
Key takeaways
- Check that your severance pay counts your notice weeks. If you are paid instead of working your notice, s. 65(4) calculates severance pay as if you had kept working through the notice weeks you did not get.
- Check the vesting date on every RSU and option grant. List each tranche that falls inside your likely notice period, with its value on that date, before you weigh the offer.
- Check the for cause paragraph of your contract. A clause that lets the employer fire you without notice for anything less than wilful misconduct is the most common flaw that sinks the whole termination section.
- Check what the release would give up. List every claim it names (notice, bonus, equity, benefits, human rights) so you know what you are trading away for the money.
- Check your Record of Employment for the right last day and reason. A wrong date or code delays EI, so ask the employer in writing to correct it.
In this article
✅Quick answer. Innodata has announced layoffs; no Ontario cuts have been disclosed. If your Ontario job is cut, you are owed Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) notice or termination pay, severance pay at 5 or more years if the payroll test is met, and often months more at common law unless a valid clause caps you at the minimum.
What did Innodata announce?
| At a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Announced | October 26, 2026, by Innodata India Pvt Ltd, with further cuts reported in the Philippines |
| Effective | October 26, 2026, the last working day named in one termination email |
| People affected | Nearly 550 in India; Innodata has not publicly confirmed the total |
| Share of workforce | Not disclosed |
| Layoff or furlough | Permanent terminations: one email said the company decided to "discontinue your employment" because a business assignment was ramping down; no severance amounts were made public |
| Canadian impact | Not disclosed |
What should you do in the first 48 hours?
- The deadline is the employer's choice, not the law's; ask in writing for more time.
- Sign nothing, including the release, and do not resign or call it a resignation.
- Save what you can reach and email HR for your contract, plan documents and pay stubs.
- Note the date, who told you and what was said.
- Apply for EI online after your last day, without waiting for the Record of Employment; over 4 weeks late can cost benefits.
👥If your colleagues got the same letter. Compare notes on what each of you was offered. Count how many people at your location got a letter in the same 4 weeks, because 50 or more changes the ESA minimum. Do not sign together on the employer's timetable; each of you can ask for time. Keep the letters and emails.
Does Ontario law apply if your employer is based outside Canada?
Yes, if you work in Ontario. Under ESA s. 3(1), the ESA covers you when your work is done in Ontario, wherever the parent company sits and whichever entity pays you.
What is the ESA minimum?
- Notice (s. 57). After 3 months of service, you get 1 week of notice under 1 year, 2 weeks from 1 to 3 years, then 1 week per completed year up to 8 weeks at 8 years.
- Pay instead of notice (s. 61). The employer can end your job today by paying a lump sum for the notice weeks and keeping your benefit contributions going for them.
- Mass termination (s. 58). If 50 or more people at your location lose their jobs within 4 weeks, the minimum notice rises to between 8 and 16 weeks depending on how many, under the mass termination rules.
- Severance pay (s. 64). You are owed severance pay if you have 5 or more years and the employer has a payroll of $2.5 million or more. You can also qualify with 5 or more years if 50 or more people lose their jobs within 6 months because all or part of the business at your location permanently closes, as our guide to severance pay in Ontario explains.
- Amount (s. 65). Severance pay is 1 week of "regular wages for a regular work week" per year of service, with partial years counted by the month, capped at 26 weeks.
What are you actually owed at common law?
Most first packages are built on the ESA floor; the common law usually sits well above it. How far above turns on the factors in Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd., 1960 CanLII 294 (ON SC): your age, years of service, role and how easy similar work is to find, which our guide to severance pay in Ontario walks through.
Equity, bonus and vesting detail is in our guide to severance for tech workers.
Estimate your own range
See your ESA minimum next to a common law range for your age, service and pay.
What do tech severance packages usually get wrong?
- RSUs and options: grants that would have vested in your notice period can be owed under Wigdor v. Facebook Canada Ltd., 2026 ONCA 572, a 2026 Court of Appeal decision; see also O'Reilly v. IMAX Corporation, 2019 ONCA 991.
- Bonus: a bonus you would have earned in the notice period is usually owed, even if the plan says you must be actively employed (Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc., 2016 ONCA 618).
- Termination clause: if one sentence in the termination section breaks the ESA, often the for cause paragraph, the whole clause fails and you are back to common law notice (Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391).
A new job during the notice period reduces what is owed for the months left but does not end the claim. EI and your earnings in the ESA notice weeks are not deducted; pay from a substantially lesser job may not be (Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc., 2017 ONCA 402).
What should you do before you sign?
The release is the one thing you cannot undo, so have the numbers checked before you sign it. Our severance review is free, and the firm works on a percentage of what it recovers, with no fee if nothing is recovered.
This article is general information about Ontario law. It is not legal advice about your situation.
How we can help
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the deadline on the letter passes and I have not signed?
The ESA minimum is still owed; the employer cannot take it back because you did not sign. It may withdraw whatever it offered above that minimum, which is why you ask in writing for more time before the date. Your common law claim does not end on the letter's date.
Is a package above the ESA minimum enough?
Not necessarily. Beating the ESA floor only shows the employer met the statute; unless a valid termination clause limits you to the minimum, the measure is reasonable notice at common law, which is often months more. Compare the offer with the court ranges for your profile before you sign.
Do leaves and earlier stints count toward the 5 years for severance pay?
Yes. Under ESA s. 65(2), all time in the employer's employ counts, "whether or not continuous and whether or not active", so parental leave, sick leave and an earlier period with the same employer all add to your years.
Can I claim against the parent company, not just the company on my pay stub?
Sometimes. A parent that directs your work, pays you and pools you with its own staff can be your common employer, as the Court of Appeal found in Rahman v. Cannon Design Architecture Inc., 2022 ONCA 451. That can matter for counting your service and for who has to pay.
Daniel Carter
Legal Writer, Mirza Law
Daniel Carter is a legal writer at Mirza Law in Toronto. He writes about layoffs, employment contracts, and the steps to take before you sign anything from your employer.
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