What does an employment lawyer do? Protect employee rights! They advise, assist, negotiate and litigate on behalf of employees in all aspects of an employment contract.
Employees are guaranteed rights through legislation, employment contracts, bargaining agreements and decisions made by courts and tribunals. For the average worker, it’s hard to keep up with what an employer can and can’t ask of them.
If you’re unsure if your rights are being violated, reach out to employment lawyers in Toronto, and they’ll advise you if they are or not, and what you can do about it.
Employment lawyers provide all kinds of services that help ensure employees are treated fairly in the workplace. Below are a few of the popular ones.
Wrongful Dismissal and Severance Packages
Wrongful dismissal doesn’t refer to the reason for your termination, it means your employer didn’t provide you with the notice you were entitled to, or pay in lieu of that notice, when you were terminated.
The legislation (Employment Standards Act or Canada Labour Code) sets out the minimum amount of notice or pay in lieu of notice that an employee is to receive when they are terminated. However, employees can be entitled to as much notice as it would take them to find a similar job under the common law (the court system).
As an example, if it would take an employee four months to find a job that is similar to the job they are being terminated from, they should receive four months’ of notice from their employer that they are going to be dismissed. Alternatively, their employer can pay the employee four months worth of pay and have the employee stop coming into work. This is called pay in lieu of notice. If they don’t do either, the employee has been wrongfully dismissed and is entitled to damages (money).
The legislation also offers certain employees severance pay. To qualify for severance pay, an employee has to work for a company with a payroll of over $2.5 million and have worked there for five years or more.
Given that most employers only provide the minimum amount of notice and/or severance when terminating an employee, employees may be entitled to more severance than they’re offered.
Employment lawyers are commonly retained to review and negotiate wrongful dismissal claims and severance packages and end up getting their clients more money than their employers initially offered.
Review Employment Contracts
Employment lawyers also assist new hires understand all the terms of the employment contract before they sign. Having an employment lawyer review an offer sheet will let you know what you’re entitled to, and your obligations during and after the employment relationship ends. For example, the contract may stipulate that you agree not to work in the same industry and jurisdiction as the employer for a specific amount of time after the contract ends.
Employees also retain employment lawyers to help them negotiate a raise or mediate a dispute in the workplace.
Represent Harassed Employees
Victims of harassment can feel too isolated and intimidated to speak up, especially in toxic environments like the one described at Tesla. Being able to speak to someone outside of that environment, especially someone who can help hold the perpetrators accountable, highlights the value of having an advocate there for you when you need them. Employment lawyers can be of assistance to employees experiencing a toxic workplace.
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