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When it’s dark enough, you can see the
stars. One star shining for the wrongfully-dismissed employee comes
in the form of federal Employment Insurance (EI) benefits
available to all workers whose employment benefits have been interrupted
through lay-offs both temporary and permanent.
Of course, amount and duration of EI benefits payable depends on
particular circumstances of your length of service and salary level
received. Accordingly, your employer must spell out these terms for
both you and EI administrators on a standard-form “Record of
Employment (ROE)” - a copy to which you’re entitled within 5-days of
termination or end of any employer notice period provided.
For unknown policy reasons, neither your
employer nor our federal government really want you to know particular
reason(s) claimed by the company for your dismissal. But given that we
work for neither your employer nor the federal government’s EI
department, here’s the code-breaker for interruption of earnings
reason(s) specified by your employer on the ROE:
A - work shortage
B - strike/lockout
C - return to school
D - Illness/injury
E - quit
F - pregnancy or adoption
G - retirement
H - work-sharing
J - apprentice training
M - dismissal
N - leave of absence
K - other
Accordingly,
the streetwise employment lawyer always seeks out inconsistencies
between employer’s ROE code letter and reasons outlined in the
employee’s letter of termination.
For example, an ROE that doesn’t indicate employee dismissal as
a result of his/her own misconduct as alleged in the termination letter
will seriously damage your employer’s credibility at trial.
Meanwhile, employers vindictive enough to falsify or otherwise
not provide you with timely ROE will bring upon themselves adverse
punitive damage awards at trial, along with serious Employment
Insurance Act fines and potential imprisonment from which defending
your wrongful dismissal lawsuit may very well become least of their
worries at hand.
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