No — the Code says so in terms, and a release does not close the file the way it would under provincial law.
Short answer
Canada Labour Code s.240(1.01) provides that “the fact that an employer complies with Divisions X and XI [notice and severance] does not (a) affect the employee’s rights under this Division; or (b) prevent the Board from deciding…that the dismissal was unjust or from making any order…including a reinstatement order.” A dismissed employee with twelve consecutive months of non-unionised service can still file an unjust-dismissal complaint within ninety days, and paying notice and severance in full is not a defence to it — only creditable against compensation if the complaint succeeds.
Section 242(3.1)(a) bars a complaint only where the person “has been laid off because of lack of work or because of the discontinuance of a function.” A dismissal framed as performance, followed by the same role being posted and filled a fortnight later, puts that bar permanently out of reach — the function plainly was not discontinued. For a genuine integration redundancy to close the file, the role has to actually stay gone.
Section 167(3) provides that “Division XIV does not apply to or in respect of employees who are managers,” and s.240(1) itself excludes anyone “subject to a collective agreement.” So the federal unjust-dismissal exposure this rule creates sits specifically with non-managerial, non-unionised staff at twelve months’ service — close to the reverse of where a provincially trained buyer typically expects the risk to concentrate.
Section 242(5) lets the Board, in fixing compensation, “take into account any amount paid by the employer to the employee under subsection 230(1) or 235(1)” — so notice and severance already paid reduce what is owed if the complaint succeeds. They simply do not stop the complaint from being heard, or from ending in reinstatement.
The full mechanic, including the settlement figures, is worked through in an interprovincial carrier and a dismissal that stayed open.
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