A bend in the road isn’t the end of the road - unless you fail
to make the turn. Fortunately, case law
provides that Ontario workers dismissed without “just cause” are entitled to
paid period of “reasonable notice” to land replacement employment at comparable
job conditions and salary. And so
read this article to learn common employer grounds for “just cause” and how to
beat them for maximum fair severance package compensation.
Every exit is an entrance somewhere
else, and in situations of wrongful dismissal your entrance is the “reasonable
notice” pay to which wrongfully dismissed workers are entitled well beyond minimal
amounts provided by Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. In assessing wrongful dismissal damages, Ontario
courts therefore seek to put the employee in the same financial position they would have
enjoyed had reasonable notice period been provided. And so read this article to learn what Canadian courts are saying about
fair severance package compensation available to Ontario employees wrongfully terminated
without cause.
It’s been said that life
isn’t so much in holding a good hand, as playing a poor hand well. And while you may be out of a job, don’t let
difficult circumstances prevent you from negotiating maximum fair severance package from
your former employer.
After you’ve been fired and decide not to accept your
employer’s typically deficient offer, professional battle plan is critical to
maximizing your fair severance compensation package.
Accordingly, the streetwise employment lawyer not only adds essential credibility
to fallback threats of wrongful dismissal proceedings in court, but effective counsel will
further advise you on what to ask for, whom you will talk to, and just what you want to
achieve before attending a negotiation session. And so read this article to
learn how experienced counsel help clients better prioritize critical elements of your
settlement for maximum fair severance package compensation.
Some individuals have developed a
wishbone where their backbone should be. The
streetwise employment lawyer, however, applies their intimate knowledge of this
province’s 926+ pages of Ontario civil procedure to inexpensively settle your
severance pay disputes where possible, and efficiently litigate where necessary.
And while some employers do extend reasonable offers of severance
pay upon termination, companies are
increasingly adopting a more hard-line approach - believing (perhaps correctly) that most
workers lack access to timely legal advice and can’t afford the legal fees even if
they did. Still more employers fear setting
any form of precedent for future negotiations with other employees to be fired, or
desperately hope their wrongfully-dismissed worker will quickly land alternate employment
thereby reducing potential court damage awards in any event. And so read this article for streetwise advise on when and how to sue
your employer for maximum fair severance package compensation.
Life doesn’t require that we be
the best, only that we try our best. And so
too does the legal standard for workplace incompetence require fair warning by your
employer before you can be legally fired without termination pay.
More than ever, courts are increasingly calling for employer
evidence of fair warning about performance deficiencies prior to an employee’s
dismissal. In other words, courts frown upon
the sharp-practice of employers terminating workers without notice, taking the employee by
surprise, and failing to advise even the ill-performing employee about the possibility of
termination should performance not improve within a reasonable period of time. And so read this article to defend even the most incompetent employee
on grounds that the company breached its common-law duty to warn the worker of imminent
dismissal for cause.
It’s been said that the only
people who like change are wet babies. Yet
what if your work conditions have deteriorated so badly that you have no choice but to
quit?
Fortunately, courts have increasingly recognized the concept of
“constructive dismissal” whereby distressed employees are still awarded
“reasonable notice” damages despite the fact they have not yet been formally
dismissed by their [usually underhanded] employers. More
specifically, “constructive dismissal” damages may be awarded in circumstances
where the employer - without acting explicitly to terminate your employment - acts
unilaterally to change employment terms/conditions such that the employee is entitled to
regard the employer’s conduct as a termination, and so bring an action for wrongful
dismissal even though they have not been formally fired.
And so read this
article to strengthen your constructive dismissal arguments for maximum fair severance
compensation.
Professionals are people who do jobs
well even when they don’t feel like it. As
a professional, there’s nothing more frustrating than getting fired on unfounded
allegations of employee incompetence. But while easy to allege, incompetence
is becoming increasingly more difficult for your employer to prove in court, thereby
opening the door for streetwise employment lawyers to beat even the harshest allegations
of incompetence through defence on the following three grounds.
Time spent in getting even is better
spent getting ahead, and that’s why Ontario judges will question you the
wrongfully-dismissed employee about your reasonable efforts to minimize employment-loss
damages suffered throughout days and weeks following your termination from work. In other words, the law doesn’t intend your
reasonable notice period to be an extended vacation, but rather a necessary period of time
in which to seek replacement employment at comparable working conditions and salary.
In cross-examination, company lawyers defending even the most
blatantly wrongful dismissal without cause will hammer the unsuspecting plaintiff employee
with suggestions that their failure to find timely new employment stems from their
inherent laziness in refusing to apply for job ads, send out resumes, and otherwise
network for replacement employment. And so read this article detailing
courtroom evidence necessary to defeat your employer’s last defence against maximum
fair severance package compensation at trial.
Professional reputations built over
a lifetime are often destroyed overnight should you fail to secure (a) timely reference
letters, (b) cover story to your co-workers, and (c) seal of your personnel file against
nosy third-parties. And so read this article for streetwise
advice in securing your boss’ written assurance of confidentiality for leaving your
employer with maximum personal privacy/reputation intact.
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. And so read this article to
better understand your right to timely “Record of Employment (ROE)” form within
maximum 5-days of termination from employment.
It’s been said that diplomacy
is the art of thinking twice before saying nothing. But
how can you possibly act diplomatically when you’ve just been fired from the
long-term job that you love and depend on for friends, income, and emotional support? While one certainly appreciates the psychological
urge to tell-off your supervisor, board of directors, and company shareholders alike -
there are few wrongful dismissal circumstances that can’t be made much worse by
acting out frustrations on your boss, but few lives not improved by quickly landing even
better employment to the envy of your former co-workers.
And so read this
article about diverting emotional upset of wrongful dismissal into maximum fair severance
package compensation and brighter days ahead.
Even when you're wrongfully dismissed,
the taxman still wants his cut from your severance package. That said, lawyer and
Chartered Accountant Stephen Du, LL.B., C.A. advises wrongfully-dismissed executives on
creative (yet perfectly legal) methods of
structuring severance packages for dramatically reduced income tax burden
and maximum take-home pay.
Six out of ten
people hate going to their jobs every day. In this article,
wrongfullydismissed.com lawyer Howard Markowitz
advises
miserable employees on
requesting your exit package from work.
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