Being terminated from a job is never a nice situation to be in, but it’s important to keep a clear head should this ever happen to you and to be aware of your rights surrounding severance packages.
Any employer who terminates the contract of an employee must follow a certain set of regulations, which includes providing the individual with reasonable notice or providing them with severance pay. While many employees aren’t even aware of their rights, others assume that when presented with a severance package to sign, this will automatically be a fair deal.
If employers don’t follow the regulations, or you suspect your severance package isn’t in fact fair, you may wish to seek guidance from experienced local employment lawyers, who can conduct a severance package review and help you get what you deserve.
Is a severance review really necessary?
While the Employment Standards Code outlines the amount of pay and notice a terminated employee should receive based upon the length of their service, many employees (and even some employers) aren’t aware that under common law, they may actually be entitled to receive further severance compensation.
The average employee isn’t in a position to assess whether the severance agreement they’ve been offered is fair and might not know that under common law, other factors than their length of service should be taken into account.
Without intimate knowledge of the law surrounding severance packages, it’s impossible to know whether, as a terminated employee, you’ve been given as much as you are entitled to. But with a review conducted by an employment lawyer, you can discover whether your package is fair or whether there are grounds for a claim to be made against your employer.
Understanding severance pay in Alberta
Laws pertaining to severance pay in Alberta state that an employee who has worked for a company or individual for more than 90 days is entitled to receive a notice of termination. In many instances, severance packages are immediately offered to avoid the serving of a notice period, and these are typically based on duration of service alone and can range from one to eight weeks of pay, as per the Employment Standards Code. But such agreements should take into account other factors, such as the following:
- Why the employee was terminated
- The manner in which the dismissal took place
- The employee’s job title and responsibilities
- The nature of their work
- Benefits received from the employer as part of the employment
- The employee’s age and health status
- The employee’s future employability
- Current conditions in the employment market
Along with an employee’s salary, they may also have been given bonuses or commissions, and these should be accounted for when they are terminated. Without these factors accounted for, it’s unlikely that an employee will receive a severance package that’s fair.
What will happen when you meet with an employment lawyer?
If you’ve scheduled to meet with an employment lawyer for a severance package review, you will be asked to provide them with all of the relevant details related to the severance package you have been offered, such as the letter of termination, notice of layoff, etc.
With their vast experience and deep understanding of Canadian employment laws, they’ll conduct an in-depth review of your severance package in Alberta, present you with all available legal options, and guide you as to what steps you should take next.
It’s never advisable to immediately accept an offer of severance or anything else from your employer without first having a good understanding of your rights and what you are entitled to by law. If you feel out of your depth, simply speak with an employment lawyer in your locality and get both the answers you need and the severance package you deserve.
Ultimately, if the severance package you’ve been offered doesn’t feel fair, there’s a good chance it isn’t.