Layoffs During COVID-19: Your Rights

1. Get details from your employer. Find out when they intend to bring you back to work. You may decide to agree to the layoff if it lasts for only a short period of time.
2. Contact us for legal advice if your employer does not know when you will be brought back from a layoff. You may have the right to treat the layoff as a termination immediately, and pursue severance that is owed to you now.

Whether you are an employee with many years of service at the same company, an individual earning a high income, or a worker who can’t afford to go without pay for more than a few weeks, you must get an understanding about what your rights are.

Your rights in a temporary layoff situation during the COVID-19 pandemic are no different than a layoff under normal circumstances.

Unless you have an employment contract or agreement that says otherwise, an employer does not have an automatic right to temporarily lay off an employee. Such a move is a drastic change to the terms of employment. You may have the right treat any significant change to those terms as a constructive dismissal. In other words, you can view your employment as being terminated (a permanent termination) by your employer.

If you choose not to accept a temporary layoff during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, you can claim that you have been let go, or terminated, by the company. In that case, you would be entitled to severance pay under common law in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. We calculate severance pay (termination pay) by considering an employee’s:

• age;
• position;
• length of employment; and
• ability to find new employment.

Keep in mind that, under normal circumstances, if you accept a temporary layoff, you may give your employer the right to lay you off again in the future. You would also potentially give up your ability to seek severance pay.

Many employers have chosen to permanently lay off employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to reduce the cost of payroll. Everyone from frontline office staff, to middle managers, to senior executives are being affected.

If you are an employee In Ontario, British Columbia or Alberta, and have been let go with or without cause due to COVID-19, you are likely owed severance pay.

Severance pay is based on many factors, and can be as much as 24 months’ pay.

Contact us immediately for a consultation to find out how much you may be owed. Remember that you have two years from the date of termination to pursue your full severance pay. Your rights to severance are not affected by a 3, 5 or 7 day severance offer deadline imposed by your employer.

Our experienced and trusted team can get you the advice you need, and the compensation you deserve.

No. The new layoff regulation in Ontario does not eliminate your ability to pursue severance pay if your hours or pay have been cut, or you have been laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other words, you can still treat those changes to your employment as a constructive dismissal, and we can help you get your full severance package.

The new regulation removes your ability to get the MINIMUM severance pay you would be owed through a constructive dismissal. It does not remove your right to seek FULL SEVERANCE PAY through assistance from our team.