#WorkplaceDrama #UnfairDismissal #LegalAdviceNeeded
Hey there, fellow work warriors! 👋 Have you ever been let go from a job for “behavioural issues” that seem to have come out of nowhere? It can be a confusing and frustrating experience, especially when you feel like you’ve been a dedicated employee for years.
Just imagine working at a small business for 8 years, only to be suddenly written up and then fired because of alleged laziness or disobedience. Sound familiar? Well, one of our community members is going through just that. But here’s the twist – all their other colleagues think highly of them and vouch for their hard work and dedication.
So, the big question is – should they talk to a lawyer and ask for more than the 2 weeks’ pay they were given? 🤔
Here are some possible solutions that might help you navigate a situation like this:
– First and foremost, gather all your documentation (performance reviews, emails, etc.) to support your case.
– Consider seeking legal advice to understand your rights and options.
– Reach out to HR or a trusted mentor within your company to get their perspective on the situation.
– Think about negotiating a better severance package that reflects your years of service and contributions to the company.
Have you ever been in a similar situation or have any advice to share? Let’s help out our fellow community member by sharing our insights and experiences! 💬 #SupportEachOther #WorkplaceAdversity
Labour law is provincial. In Ontario you’d be required to be given a minimum notice period of 8 weeks or 8 weeks of pay in lieu of notice.
It’s probably worth contacting an employment lawyer. If you don’t contact an employment lawyer, apply for EI. But if you’re going to talk to a lawyer, do that before applying for EI.
>written up for all sort of reasons, like being lazy or disobedient.
And
>all of my other colleagues love me and have told me I am a great colleague that gets the job done and have done so for the last 8 years.
Are not mutually exclusive.
I don’t know what happened and rather than try to guess I am going to say that yes, you should speak to an employment lawyer.
Assuming this is constructive dismissal and you did nothing wrong, normal severance would be about 8 months worth of pay for 8 years of service.
You should also file for EI however I am wondering what dismissal code they put on your RoE.
How big is the company? What does your employment contract say about terms for dismissal?
Since they offered you well below the statutory minimum of pay in lieu of notice, guessing it’s all amateur hour there and you are owed more. Especially since they short changed you on mandatory notice pay.
I would advise talking to a lawyer for sure, seems like a slam dunk.
I would counter offer since you’ve been there eight weeks, have all the copies of your write ups it’s strange how you haven’t had one in eight years and in a couple months you get, however, many number something must be discriminatory, but I would talk to HR because if you’re laid off technically two weeks for every year of service
Unless you are unionized you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. You can’t be fired because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics or disability. But other than that you can be terminated at any time for anything. Doesn’t matter if everyone there loved you, if the boss doesn’t like your behaviour and wants you gone, you are gone. There’s nothing legally you can do about that.
But, the legal minimum severance will be more than 2 weeks for 8 years of service. Provincial labour standards vary, but you should be getting far more than that. Don’t sign anything and definitely speak with a lawyer about negotiating a better severance. And ideally a without cause reason on your ROE so that you are eligible for EI.
Girlfriend was fired less than a year in on December 21st.
Spent 400 bucks on a lawyer who looked at her contract. It was a trainwreck and unenforceable in Ontario. One letter later and they negotiated to about 2 months of severance.
Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. And one thing we learned is that Ontario is very sympathetic to employees (ie: don’t terminate people without cause days before Christmas and don’t copy and paste employee contracts from other jurisdictions without local legal advice.)
Pretty suspicious. If the write-ups started recently then it’s very possible something else is going on. (Or you’ve recently picked up a habit that is impacting your work. Proof matters! It’ll depend a lot on what’s in those “lazy or disobedient” write-ups.)
2 weeks after 8 years… I’m not sure that’s adequate anywhere?
This sounds like an excuse. This “other person” was likely hired to replace you. Either they’re a friend of the boss, or they’re a lot cheaper.
Any which way, lawyer is the correct answer. 30 mins free consult can usually be had, and there’s a pretty good chance there’s some additional compensation due.
And do apply for EI. Even if your RoE lists “with cause” you can challenge that with EI, which can makes things uncomfortable for the company. You can always withdraw the application if you find new work right away, while still giving the old company a black mark.
Contact the labour board and/or a lawyer. Seems like the reasons given for your termination are dishonest, which is technically a wrongful dismissal… but I don’t think that is in and of itself unlawful as long as it not to cover for any discrimination based on the charter protected grounds or if the employer intends to defraud EI or CRA or something.
It would be worth your time to go visit a lawyer’s office. To help have a time line with the exact dates of employment, your letter of dismissal, copies of the issues they wrote you up for, date the new person was employed. If you have your past performance evals that could help as well.
Being lazy isn’t something HR is going to state on a write up. What really happened? Missed deliverables? Late? What were you written up for? There’s a lot of detail missing here. They could well have cause and the offer is fine. Or if they don’t have cause, yes a lawyer would be wise.
Contact a lawyer.
See if your employment contract mentions holding severance to legal minimums or not.
Check out Bardal Factors.
Better call Saul.
I bet anyone that this person’s boss is an international student and the new hire is also an international student.
lol your employer doesn’t even need to provide a reason
I don’t know anything about the situation, don’t know anything about you so I can’t really comment.
That being said, I find nobody wants to work anymore, people are always cutting corners, lazy, and they basically are entitled/greedy to think just ‘sitting’ and ‘gossiping’ warrants being paid. Nobody wants to take any accountability when they’re paid to fulfil a role.
-interviewed, hired and fired lots of staff
Edit: I know I’ll be downvoted because I simply won’t agree with others and their narrative, but that’s been my experience with employees.
https://hrlawyers.ca/2024/01/29/navigating-the-maze-understanding-severance-pay-in-ontario/#:~:text=An%20eligible%20employee%20is%20entitled,to%208.5%20weeks'%20severance%20pay.
An eligible employee is entitled to one week of regular wages per completed year of employment, plus 1/12 of a week’s regular wages for each additional completed month of employment.
For example, an employee who worked for a company for eight years and six months would be entitled to 8.5 weeks’ severance pay.