Future Shop Layoffs: What Former Employees Are Really Owed

They showed up for work. But instead of clocking in, they were handed termination letters — and told the store was closing that very day.

When Best Buy shut down 66 Future Shop stores across Canada and rebranded another 65 locations, 1,500 employees were suddenly out of work. No advance warning. No opportunity to prepare. And for many, severance packages that fell well below what the law actually requires.

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, Canada’s leading employment law firm for non-unionized workers, stepped in to help.

Our involvement exposed major problems with how severance was calculated — and helped former employees understand their true rights.

What Happened?

In March 2015, Best Buy made a sudden decision to restructure its operations in Canada. Overnight, the Future Shop brand vanished.

Employees across the country arrived for their shifts only to find the doors locked. Inside, they were ushered into meetings and told they no longer had jobs.

Some were offered severance on the spot — with pressure to sign immediately. Others were told their benefits would be cut off in just a few weeks.

The Legal Concerns

Lior Samfiru, co-founding partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, reviewed the severance offers handed out by Future Shop — and raised the alarm.

“Most of the packages we saw were deeply inadequate,” he said. “Some employees were offered as little as 20% of what they were legally entitled to.”

Samfiru identified several major issues:

• Severance based on recent low-earning weeks, rather than average historical pay
• Benefits being cut off too early, in violation of employment law
• Pressure tactics with employees told to sign immediately—often while still processing the news of their termination

Even though Best Buy claimed to follow provincial standards, those standards only cover the bare minimum. Canadian employees are owed significantly more severance pay under common law.

What Severance Should Have Looked Like

Under Canadian common law, severance pay must consider:

• Age
• Length of service
• Position and responsibilities

That means a long-serving retail employee—especially one in a senior or full-time role—could be owed months of pay, not just weeks. In Canada, severance pay can be as much as 24 months’ pay.

“Just because a package meets the minimum under the Employment Standards Act doesn’t make it fair — or legal,” said Samfiru. “Every employee’s situation is unique. You can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach.”

The Outcome: Full Severance Secured for Many Employees

In the weeks that followed the layoffs, hundreds of former Future Shop employees turned to Samfiru Tumarkin LLP for help.

The firm reviewed each case, negotiated directly with the employer, and ensured that affected workers received the full severance pay they were legally entitled to.

In many cases, that meant securing thousands of additional dollars in compensation—money that had initially been left off the table by parent company Best Buy.

Thanks to our firm’s efforts, numerous employees were able to move forward with greater financial security, armed with the knowledge that their rights had been enforced.

Samfiru was featured in additional reporting:

📰 Global News – March 28, 2015
📰 CityNews Kitchener – March 30, 2015

Know Your Rights

If you were let go and relied on advice from the Ministry of Labour, or have been given a severance offer, talk to an employment lawyer in Toronto — before you sign away your rights to potentially thousands of dollars.

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP has extensive experience helping employees who have been laid off or terminated. Our Toronto severance pay lawyers are deeply familiar with the severance packages companies often provide — and we know how to improve them. Our team has successfully handled cases involving wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, and unfair severance negotiations.

Before you sign anything, get advice from the team that’s changed the landscape of Canadian employment law.

• 👥 Over 50,000 clients helped nationwide
• 💰 Millions recovered in compensation
• 📱 Free Termination Consultations — in most, but not all, cases*
• ⚖️ No win, no fee — you don’t pay unless we succeed*
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*(Conditions apply. Not all cases qualify.)