Coca-Cola laying off, offering packages to 4,000 workers

Coca-Cola is issuing layoffs to employees across North America as a result of the pandemic.

In a statement released by Coca-Cola, the beverage company has stated that a voluntary redundancy will be offered to over 4,000 workers with layoffs likely to follow in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

“The voluntary program is expected to reduce the number of involuntary separations,” the beverage franchise has claimed.

Coca-Cola employs thousands globally. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, sales have dramatically decreased, with their latest report stating a 25% slump, due to closures of bars, restaurants, and movie theatres.

Severance agreements for Coke employees

In Canada, non-unionized employees at Coca-Cola are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing, corporate restructuring, or the closure of the business.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

People working “on contract” or as a contractor may also be owed severance pay — given that many employees in Canada are often misclassified as independent contractors.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Rights to severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance entitlements during mass layoffs
• Severance packages in a recession

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.

In some cases, employers pressure staff into accepting poor severance packages, such as imposing a deadline for accepting the offer.

Non-unionized employees in Canada have up to two years from the date of their dismissal to pursue a claim for full severance pay.