An employer can dismiss employees from their job. However, a dismissal is wrongful if the employer does not provide enough forewarning (or a fair payment in lieu thereof), or any payment at all, which is known as severance.
In most wrongful dismissal cases, the central issue is the amount of pay for lost wages that the employee is entitled to. There are a wide range of factors that influence this amount, such as: salary, age, tenure, position and precedents, which are comparable cases that can be used as examples.
Keep in mind that employers don’t always provide employees with the severance packages that they deserve. They often offer them packages that they think employees will accept, which is sometimes much less than they are owed. Don’t become one of these statistics. Get advice from a lawyer with expertise.
At Whitten & Lublin Employment & Labour Lawyers we have a team of leading lawyer who only handle employment matters. We have negotiated, litigated and pursued thousands of wrongful dismissal matters.
Misconduct vs Just Cause for Dismissal
Sometimes employers may claim that the employee committed some form of misconduct that eliminates the need to provide reasonable notice or severance. In this scenario, the employer states that it has “cause for dismissal.” This means that the employer can try to avoid paying their former employee. To side step their obligation to provide severance the employer must demonstrate that the punishment meets the crime. If not, the employee will be awarded fair severance, legal costs and sometimes punitive damages.
If you have lost your job and feel as if you were not treated fairly or not given a fair severance package, contact Whitten & Lublin for a proper assessment of your case.