What Not to do when Fired from your Job
Neufeld Legal P.C. can be reached by telephone at 403-400-4092 / 905-616-8864 or email Chris@NeufeldLegal.com
The following are eight things you shouldn't do when your employment is terminated and the potential value associated with each of the recommended actions:
1. Don’t depart without your documents. Employment-related documents were intended for your personal retention, and just because they were sent to your employer-assigned company email does not deny you the right to those documents. The same applies to materials addressed to yourself that are accessed through an internet portal, such as pay statement, pension and health benefits. They were addressed to you and can be appropriately retained, and if not collected and/or requested at termination, as they can have enormous significance to the assessment of your employment situation.
2. Don’t rush the process. Take time to process the situation. There is an incredible amount of complexity involved in analyzing the specifics of an individual's employment, with simplicity being the most signicant reason for employees having been underpaid and accepting far less than what they are legally entitled to when they have been fired from their job. Given how much time you put into your job, you should be putting some serious time into understanding where you stand when you've been terminated or have a knowledgeable lawyer explain all the complexity.
3. Not reviewing the termination / severance package prior to accepting it. The termination / severance packages, as outlined in the employer's documentation, tend to be very legal, and as always, pro-employer. As such, you need a proper interpretation as to what the employer's paperwork actually says and what it really means in relation to what you are legally entitled to.
4. Signing a release where it isn’t necessary. Most employers seek written releases from the employees that they have fired, so as to provide them with a perceived level of legal protection (even though there is considerable legal debate as to its validity). However, where an employee is only receiving what is mandated by statute (employment standards legislation) such as outstanding pay, termination pay in lieu of notice and vacation pay on termination, there is no need to sign a written release. The employer has to pay those amounts without question and cannot withhold them on the basis of not receiving the signed release.
5. Don't limit your review to termination pay / severance pay. Employers would prefer that you limit your focus on what they are offering, which most fired employees and employment lawyers erroneously do. Unless you widen your perspective, you will never know what else you might be owed from your former employer.
6. Don’t refuse transition services. Employee transition services can prove extremely beneficial, even if it only results in attaining new employment some time later. Given that they are being offered without cost, it makes sense to take advantage of them; and if they are ineffective or otherwise inadequate, it hasn't cost you financially.
7. Don’t disparage your supervisor or co-workers. Nothing is ever gained from disparaging others, especially when it comes to continuing in the labour force. That is not to say that you should not look at challenging your former employer's employment practices through appropriate legal action where there is a legitimate basis to raise a legal challenge, in particular given our own legal perspective as to the extent and severity of financial and legal errors being perpetrated by employers across Canada.
8. Don’t lose faith in yourself. You are far better than your job and the people you worked for, with most termination decisions being based on aspects entirely unrelated to yourself as an employee and as a person. Don't get yourself caught up in that negative downward spiral, when there was little to nothing that you could have done to change the outcome, and instead focus your energy on moving forward.
Meanwhile, we can relieve some of the stress associated with your job loss, by providing you with legal analysis and related perspective, such that you might better focus your energy on moving forward. Knowing where you stand from a financial and legal standpoint can be particularly significant given the number of problems associated with most employment situations and employee terminations, which most people (lawyers included) are largely unaware of and should be serious considered. If you are interested in receiving a free confidential consultation, contact our law firm in strict confidence, by telephone at 403-400-4092 or 905-616-8864, or via email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This website is designed for general informational purposes. The site is not designed to answer specific questions about your individual situation or entitlement. Do not rely upon the information provided on this website as legal advice in respect of your individual situation nor use it as substitute for individual legal advice. If you want specific legal advice, you need to engage a lawyer under established legal engagement procedures that have been specifically agreed to by that lawyer.