Accenture Layoffs and Severance Pay

Accenture is a global professional services company based in Dublin, Ireland that specializes in information technology (IT) and consulting services. The business is grouped in the following ways:

• Accenture Strategy and Consulting: Provides business, technology, and operations strategy services
• Accenture Song: Provides digital marketing, analytics and mobility services
• Accenture Technology: Focuses on technology software, implementation, delivery and research & development
• Accenture Operations: Handles business process outsourcing, IT services, cloud services and managed operations

Founded in 1989 as Andersen Consulting, Accenture adopted its current name on January 1, 2001. The company employs 738,000 people in over 120 countries. Accenture’s Canadian presence features 6,700 employees working out of 16 offices, including its headquarters in downtown Toronto.

Recent layoffs at Accenture

March 2023

• Accenture is planning on letting go 19,000 jobs worldwide over the next 18 months, affecting 2.5% of its workforce and costing $1.2 billion in severance payments.

Severance for Accenture employees

In Canada, employees at Accenture can get up to 24 months of severance pay when they are fired or laid off from their job. This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, and hourly in Ontario, Alberta, or B.C.

Severance is the compensation non-unionized workers in Canada receive from their employer when they are fired without cause.

Even if you are fired for cause, it’s very likely that you are still entitled to full severance pay because employees often don’t meet the conditions necessary for this type of dismissal.

SEE ALSO
• Severance packages in mass layoffs
• Rights to severance for provincially regulated employees
• Deloitte severance packages

Regardless of a company’s grasp on employment law, they are legally required to provide proper compensation following a termination. 

This concept applies during challenging economic conditions, downsizing, the closure of a business, or major public health events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains everything you need to know about severance pay on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

The employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP have represented numerous employees in the professional services sector over the years in severance package negotiations.

We have successfully secured much larger amounts for individuals employed across a variety of positions, from entry level jobs to executives.

How to properly calculate severance pay

Employers often incorrectly calculate severance pay. There is a belief that severance pay is a few days’ pay, one week’s pay, or a week for every year of service an employee has with the company.

For non-unionized employees, the main factors of termination or severance pay are age, length of service, position, bonuses, benefits, and the ability to find new work.

If you work for Accenture Canada, you are a provincially regulated employee. That means your severance package must consider:

• Your minimum severance pay as a provincially regulated employee, which is determined by each individual province.
• Your full severance pay according to our legal system (common law) which can be as much as 24 months’ pay.

To figure out how much compensation you may be entitled to, use our firm’s Pocket Employment Lawyer.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Severance Pay in Ontario
• Alberta severance packages
• Understanding severance in B.C.
• Layoffs in Canada

Don’t sign on the dotted line!

Do not accept any severance offer, termination papers, or exit agreement that Accenture Canada may provide you with.

Once you sign back these documents, you eliminate your ability to negotiate a fair and proper severance package.

Generally speaking, if an employee does not receive the proper amount of severance pay when they lose their job, they may be considered to have been wrongfully dismissed. An employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP can analyze your situation and explain how much compensation you may be owed.

Talk to an employment lawyer

The experienced employment law team at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP has helped tens of thousands of non-unionized individuals across the country. In addition to severance package negotiations, our team has experience securing solutions for the following employment matters:

Our lawyers in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. stand ready to help you solve your workplace issues.

If you are a non-unionized employee who needs help with an employment issue, contact us or call 1-855-821-5900 to get the advice you need, and the compensation you deserve.

Disclaimer: The materials above are provided as general information about the rights of employees in Canada. It is not specific to any one company and should not be read as suggesting any improper conduct on the part of any specific employer.