Since 1967, Peavey Mart has been a staple nationwide supplier of products ranging from home improvement and hardware to agricultural products. Peavey Mart’s markets have typically included small towns, where their various retail locations have served a customer base consisting of homeowners, ranchers, and farmers.

However, on January 26, 2025, Peavey Mart announced closures of all of its more than 90 locations throughout Canada. This shocking turn of events followed a recent announcement that the national retainer would close 22 underperforming locations. While initially thought to be part of a restructuring and stabilizing, this partial closure quickly turned out to be the beginning of the end of a Canadian mainstay that, before 2024, had been a story of expansion and growth.

A History of Growth

In 2016, Peavey Mart expanded beyond Western Canada by acquiring TSC Stores in Ontario. In 2020, the company expanded further by acquiring Ace Hardware’s 107 locations. These bold moves brought it into competition with industrial behemoths such as Home Depot and Canadian Tire.

However, in 2024, Peavey’s wave of growth ebbed when its partnership with Ace Hardware International ended. After a brief period of refocusing, Peavey’s dissolved partnership was followed by shuttering some and then all of its locations. In commenting on the abrupt closure, President and CEO Doug Anderson described “significant disruptions” in the Canadian retail environment that proved “insurmountable.”

Preparing for Job Losses

Peavey Mart has held a unique anchoring role for rural Alberta communities for over 50 years. With the dissolution of this reliable retailer, many of its workers may struggle to find similar work in the industry. As large swathes of Alberta’s workforce brace for resulting job losses, a review of Alberta’s laws surrounding termination is timely.

Termination Pay in Alberta

As with much legal jargon, terminology such as “termination” can be confusing and misunderstood by the Albertans for which it matters most. Given how important it is to understand your entitlements following a dismissal, understanding these fundamental employment law concepts in Alberta is an important first step to ensuring these rights are enforced.

Legislated Minimum Entitlements

In Alberta, the Employment Standards Code establishes the minimum entitlements to notice of termination for Alberta employees. In this context, notice refers to the amount of time that employees must be given before they can be terminated. If an employee has a right to one week’s notice of termination, their employer must ensure they are notified of that termination at least one week before their last day of employment.

Notice Depends On Length of Service

Under the Employment Standards Code, employees are entitled to notice of termination according to how long they have been employed. The right to notice increases every year that an employee remains at the same workplace. The minimum entitlements under the Code are as follows:

• 1 week, if the employee has been employed by the employer for more than 90 days but less than 2 years;
• 2 weeks, if the employee has been employed by the employer for 2 years or more but less than 4 years;
• 4 weeks, if the employee has been employed by the employer for 4 years or more but less than 6 years;
• 5 weeks, if the employee has been employed by the employer for 6 years or more but less than 8 years;
• 6 weeks, if the employee has been employed by the employer for 8 years or more but less than 10 years; or
• 8 weeks, if the employee has been employed by the employer for 10 years or more.

Understanding Termination Pay

Furthermore, while technically a matter of providing an employee time to prepare for their impending unemployment, notice of termination frequently becomes a matter of determining how many weeks of salary an employee is entitled to. Given the apparent challenges that arise from depending on an employee recently told of their impending termination, employers often prefer to have dismissed employees leave the workplace immediately with a cheque equivalent to the compensation they would have earned throughout their notice period. This practice of providing compensation instead of time is accordingly dubbed pay in lieu of notice or “termination pay”.

A crucial aspect of termination pay requires understanding that an employee’s entire compensation package consists of more than their salary. In addition to the wage paid for regular work hours, employers often provide other forms of compensation, such as commission. Termination pay must include these amounts in addition to salary. Other amounts, such as vacation pay, overtime pay, general holiday pay, and other earnings that aren’t wages for regular hours worked (such as tips), are not required to be included in termination pay.

Wrongful Termination

If employers want to limit their employees to the termination pay to which they are entitled under the Employment Standards Code, employers must draft such limitations into their employment contracts. This is often referred to as a “termination clause”. The Alberta courts sometimes strike down these clauses for various reasons, including violations of the Code, excessive unfairness, or misrepresentation. When employers terminate employees in such a way that they violate the Code or engage in other problematic conduct, they are said to have committed “wrongful termination” or “wrongful dismissal”.

Common Law Notice

Employers who commit wrongful termination, whether due to a problematic termination clause or otherwise, may face extended notice periods governed by longstanding common law rules. The common law right to reasonable notice tends to be more generous than its legislative counterpart. The general rule is to estimate a month of compensation per year worked up to an upper limit of 24 months. Furthermore, common law notice entitlements include other aspects of compensation, such as bonuses, RRSP contributions, and vacation pay.

While one month per year is often touted as a rule of thumb, the reality is that an employee’s right to reasonable notice depends upon factors such as length of service, position, age, and employment market conditions. By analyzing these factors, courts attempt to measure how challenging the employee’s attempts to find a new job will be. An older employee with a senior position will often be entitled to more notice because they might have a harder time finding similar employment.

Getz Collins and Associates: Providing Trusted Wrongful Termination Advice in Calgary and Strathmore

Albertan workers facing down potential unemployment are left with a multitude of questions. As Peavey Mart’s workforce braces for a period of uncertainty, the skilled employment lawyers at Getz Collins and Associates offer top-tier employment law advice to non-unionized employers and employees. Combining a community-based approach with innovative legal strategies, we proudly serve clients across Alberta, including Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, Drumheller, Chestermere, Hussar, and all surrounding areas. To discuss your employment matter with a member of our team, please reach out online or call 587-391-5600.