"Two-year severance deadline looms for workers still on March 2020 layoffs"
TORONTO, March 9, 2022 /CNW/ - Thousands of Canadians still sitting on temporary layoffs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 are running out of time to protect their employment rights and pursue full severance pay as a key deadline looms, warns employment law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.
"The reality is that temporary layoffs are illegal, even if they are related to an economic downturn or pandemic," said employment lawyer Lior Samfiru, national co-managing partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.
Employees can treat their layoff as a termination and seek a full severance package, which can be as much as 24 months' pay, depending on several factors.
"What most people don't realize is that their ability to file a claim for severance expires two years from the moment they are laid off. Those individuals who go over the two-year layoff anniversary and remain off work will have to wait to hear from their employer and will ultimately lose their ability to enforce their workplace rights until that happens," said Samfiru.
The firm continues to be contacted by non-unionized workers who, after being sent home at the beginning of the outbreak, still have no clear indication from their employer on when they will brought back to work and are now reviewing legal options.
About Samfiru Tumarkin LLP
Samfiru Tumarkin LLP is Canada's largest employee-side employment firm, focusing on severance pay, wrongful dismissal, long-term disability claim denials, constructive dismissal, employee misclassification, human rights law, labour law, temporary layoffs and employment contracts.
The firm's employment lawyers represent both employees and employers across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, as well as individuals who have been denied their long-term disability payments by their insurance provider. Their Severance Pay Calculator, launched in 2013, has been used by nearly two million people seeking an understanding of how much compensation they are owed when they lose their job.
In addition the being the most quoted authority on employment law in Canada, Samfiru Tumarkin LLP has successfully represented tens of thousands clients and is the most positively reviewed law firm in the country (on Google).
SOURCE Samfiru Tumarkin LLP
Or media inquiries: Ryan Bonnar, Marketing Manager, Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, [email protected], 416-216-5893
Share this article