The common law is the system of law that comes from the way judges and decision makers have previously decided cases, we call this “precedent.” The common law is a source of law separate from law that comes from statutes, or what we think of as “laws.”
In employment law we often speak of statutory notice and common law notice. This means the amount of notice a terminated employee is entitled to under statute, the Employment Standards Act in Ontario, or under the common law, which is determined by looking at how cases with similar facts have been decided.
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