Employment Law Consultations – It all begins here!

(1) Why should you have a consultation?

• You have been terminated and were provided with a termination package:
• You have been terminated and were NOT provided with any notice or compensation:
• You think you may be terminated in the near future:
• Your job or pay has been fundamentally changed and you do not agree to those changes:
• You are experiencing harassment at work from a boss or from another supervisory employee:
• You are being discriminated against:
• There are restrictions on your post-employment activities:
• Your union is not properly advancing your grievance:

(2) What should you bring to a consultation?

(3) On a lighter note:

• Consultation Fees
• Trying to Impress
  

(1) Why should you have a consultation?

I encourage you to meet with a lawyer prior to taking any course of action that may impact on your employment or the compensation you receive after you have been dismissed. The following is a guide of situations when you should meet with an employment lawyer so that you may better understand your rights and how the law will apply to your case.

You have been terminated and were provided with a termination package:
If you have been terminated, or if you believe that you may have been terminated, in most circumstances your ex-employer will provide you with a termination or severance package. In some cases, your ex-employer will only provide you with aspects of this package if you sign a Release or Waiver. You should not sign or agree to anything until you have had the opportunity to meet with an employment lawyer who will review the package with you. In fact, at the time of your termination, your company should encourage you to meet with a lawyer and not try to persuade you to take their offer without having done so. By immediately agreeing to the company’s first offer of severance, you may be disentitling yourself to substantial compensation that would otherwise have been available.

Many times, the package that you have been provided will be fair and reasonable. In this case, I will counsel you to formally accept the company’s offer and you will have the ‘peace of mind’ to do so, knowing that you received a fair deal. However, in other cases, I will advise you that the company has given you a deficient severance package and that you are entitled to receive additional compensation. At this point, I may recommend attempting to negotiate in good faith with your ex-employer. Companies are usually agreeable to negotiate, assuming your approach is fair. In a relatively short period of time, you can receive a better termination package.

I do not recommend negotiating with you ex-employer in the absence of legal counsel as you may be unfamiliar with the process or the prevailing law and therefore, may not be in a position to properly assess the fairness of the deal that you have been offered. For the most part, if you accept a deal and sign a Release you will have a difficult time undoing the agreement and obtaining more money.

You have been terminated and were NOT provided with any notice or compensation:
In select cases, your employer may be entitled to dismiss you without providing you with any form of advanced notice or compensation. Generally, if you have worked for three months or less, were subject to a fixed term contract or have been terminated for just cause (misconduct etc.), you may not be entitled to anything.

Being terminated for just cause is a serious event that is justified in only limited circumstances. Therefore, you should not simply accept the reasoning or conclusions that your former employer has given you. Employers have the legal burden to justify that you have been properly terminated for just cause. As such, if your employer has terminated you for just cause you should immediately meet with an employment lawyer who can assess the merits of the case against you and advise you what recourse, if any, that you may have available.

You think you may be terminated in the near future:
Many times, you have some indication that you may be terminated in the near future. You may be aware, for example, that a restructuring is going to happen. In other cases, your relationship with your superiors has changed and you now feel that you are being documented or that your performance appraisals do not accurately portray how you have been performing. In my experience, there are times when you will probably be able to see a termination coming before it actually happens. If you are in this position, you should meet with an employment lawyer who can assist you in building the strongest case possible, should the pink slip indeed arrive. There are many pre-termination strategies that can assist you in gaining more compensation or even keeping yourself out of trouble if you have access to confidential information or are considering going into a competing business. Also, if you believe you may be terminated, there is considerable ‘peace of mind’ that can be gained by meeting with an employment lawyer. In this way, you can better understand your employer’s obligations towards you and plan for the future.

Your job or pay has been fundamentally changed and you do not agree to those changes:
If your job duties or pay are fundamentally altered, without advanced notice, and without your agreement, you may have been constructively dismissed. In such a case, it is critical to meet with an employer lawyer as soon as possible after the changes are made known to you, so that you will not be seen as condoning or agreeing to the changes. If you are constructively dismissed, you may be entitled to damages in the same way as if you were outright terminated. However, in many cases, your employment situation may be reparable and your employment lawyer should work with you and your company to remedy the situation to your satisfaction.

You are experiencing harassment at work from a boss or from another supervisory employee:
Being harassed by another employee, especially those who are in a position to confer or deny a benefit may also lead to a situation of constructive dismissal and therefore, entitle you to damages as if you had been terminated outright. Harassment in any form is never an acceptable situation at work and you should meet with an employment lawyer so that you may receive the proper advice to remedy the situation. In many circumstances, I have seen employee’s make poor decisions when dealing with their alleged harasser and have compromised their employment and the strength of a potential lawsuit. For the most part, the situation can be resolved amicably and without having to lose your job or be transferred. Your employment lawyer should discuss these options in detail with you.

You are being discriminated against:
The Ontario Human Rights Code protects employees from discrimination on the basis of a number of enumerated grounds. Your employer also has an obligation to provide a harassment free workplace on the basis of those grounds. If you feel that you are being treated differently than others because of a personal characteristic, such as your race, colour, background, age, sex, marital status or a disability, you should meet with an employment lawyer.

If the facts support your allegations that you have been treated differently, I may recommend that we file a Complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. In this case, you are protected from reprisal by your employer for having filed a complaint. In other words, your employer cannot fire you or treat you differently for having made a legitimate Complaint to the Commission. If the Commission accepts your Complaint, it has broad powers to assist in remedying the problem. However, a drawback of the Commission is the relatively long period of time until a complaint is adjudicated or settled. Therefore, in certain cases, I may recommend a lawsuit to enforce your rights.

There are restrictions on your post-employment activities:
You should also be aware that there may be restrictions on your activities following the end of your employment. You may be prohibited from working in a certain industry or using certain information that you obtained during your employment. You may also be prohibited from contacting old customers or clients or even your former co-workers if the purpose is to solicit them to leave their job. Your employment contract may specifically state what you can and cannot do. However, even if your contract does not mention any restrictions, the law may still require that your refrain from engaging in certain conduct that may be detrimental to the activities of your former employer. You should discuss with an employment lawyer what restrictions, if any, you may have so that you do not become the subject of a lawsuit against you.

Your union is not properly advancing your grievance:
If you are unionized, your union has a statutory obligation or duty to fairly represent you. However, many unionized employees are surprised to hear that their union doesn’t have a duty to arbitrate every grievance that is made. Rather, a union must properly consider your grievance and act fairly and in good faith in deciding how to proceed.

If you were fired for just cause, or if you have filed a grievance that you feel was not properly dealt with by the union, you should meet with an employment lawyer who can counsel you on how you may compel the union to accept and proceed with your grievance.

(2) What should you bring to a consultation?

You should bring any information that is relevant to your complaint or concern. If you email me or telephone me to set up a consultation, I will be able to specify what documents you should bring with you. Generally, the following list is a useful guide:

• Your employment contract or an offer letter;
• Any other document that you were given or asked to sign;
• Employment policy, manual or handbook;
• Any disciplinary letter that you received;
• Copies of important emails;
• Performance evaluations; and
• Any other document that you feel is important to your case.

Most importantly, if you prepare a chronology or summary of relevant events and send this to me in advance of our meeting, I will review it before we meet and I will then be able to spend our time together more effectively. You may also be able to save yourself legal expenses if I can refer back to your summary at a future point in time.

(3) On a lighter note:

Consultation Fees:
A lawyer's dog, running around town unleashed, heads for a butcher shop and steals a roast. The butcher goes to the lawyer's office and asks, "if a dog running unleashed steals a piece of meat from my store, do I have a right to demand payment for the meat from the dog's owner?" The lawyer answers, "Absolutely."

"Then you owe me $8.50. Your dog was loose and stole a roast from me today."

The lawyer, without a word, writes the butcher a check for $8.50. The butcher, having a feeling of satisfaction, leaves.
Three days later, the butcher finds a bill from the lawyer: $100 due for a consultation.

Trying to Impress:
A young lawyer, starting up his private practice, was very anxious to impress potential clients. When he saw the first visitor to his office come through the door, he immediately picked up his phone and spoke into it," I'm sorry, but my caseload is so tremendous that I'm not going to be able to look into your problem for at least a month. I'll have to get back to you then." He then turned to the man who had just walked in, and said, "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing," replied the man. "I'm here to hook up your phone."

Back to top >