Ask your question about terminations, dismissals and lay offs and an employment lawyer in Ontario, BC or Alberta will answer in minutes
Good Day,
We have a Construction Company with 5 employees.
Our company is in financial crisis. We need to make some changes quickly. Questions to you are: 1. We have an employee that went through for the apprenticeship program and was understood that once he has completed the program he would seek other employment unless there was a position available. Can we lay him off indefinitely? Would we have to pay severance?
2. Due to our financial situation can we lay everyone off for the 1 to 2 weeks during the Christmas Holidays?
3. We also have a worker that has been with us since August 2017. We no longer wish to employee him. What are our options and consequences there of.
Hello. My name is David Vaughan and I am an employment lawyer with Samfiru Tumarkin. I can answer your questions as follows:
1. Assuming he is a construction worker, you do not need to provide termination pay under the Employment Standards Act, 2000. However, the employee could claim severance under the common law and he would likely be entitled to that, unless he signed a contract stipulating that his employment will terminate at the conclusion of his apprenticeship.
2. If you have not laid-off the specific employees in the past (and don’t have a contract stating they can be laid off), the employees could claim that the layoff constitutes a constructive dismissal and ask for severance pay under the common law. However, this is not guaranteed and they may simply accept the layoff.
3. You can terminate this employee without notice or severance pay if they are a construction employee. Once again, however, they could claim for severance pay at common law.
Please feel free to contact me at david.vaughan@stlawyers.ca to discuss the matter in more detail and ensure you handle these situations effectively.
1. Assuming he is a construction worker, you do not need to provide termination pay under the Employment Standards Act, 2000. However, the employee could claim severance under the common law and he would likely be entitled to that, unless he signed a contract stipulating that his employment will terminate at the conclusion of his apprenticeship.
2. If you have not laid-off the specific employees in the past (and don’t have a contract stating they can be laid off), the employees could claim that the layoff constitutes a constructive dismissal and ask for severance pay under the common law. However, this is not guaranteed and they may simply accept the layoff.
3. You can terminate this employee without notice or severance pay if they are a construction employee. Once again, however, they could claim for severance pay at common law.
Please feel free to contact me at david.vaughan@stlawyers.ca to discuss the matter in more detail and ensure you handle these situations effectively.