Calgary software developer files complaint after $25K in unpaid wages

Kyle Harrington is still waiting to be paid for three months of work he completed for Tveon Inc. last year.

The Calgary software developer worked for Tveon, a video engineering software company based in Alberta, for less than a year. Harrington told CTV News that in August 2021 the company stopped paying employees consistently. The company allegedly ceased paying wages altogether by October. The former employee states he is owed approximately $25,000 in unpaid wages.

Tveon sent a memo to employees on October 29 explaining that the company had “not yet secured payroll for Monday” and provided employees with three options as an alternative:

• Take a voluntary layoff.
• Take time off with the promise to get paid in two weeks.
• Employees could continue to work full-time with a promise to get paid twice their salary.

Harrington chose option three and continued to work on the promise to be paid double his salary. He continued to work until December 2021, when he resigned after failing to be paid for three months. He said he initially kept working because he enjoyed the job and the colleagues he worked with. He was also worried that he would lose his ability to acquire his unpaid wages if he left.

Harrington made a number of formal requests for payment to Tveon’s CEO, Richard Clark, without a response. The disgruntled former employee has since filed an employment standards complaint over the money owed by the employer.

What are an employer’s obligations regarding pay?

Employees in Canada are entitled to be paid for the time they spend working for an employer. Under Alberta’s Employment Standards Code, an employer must:

• Pay an employee at least once a month (the same rule applies in Ontario, while pay must be rendered at least twice a month in B.C.).
• Pay an employee up to 10 days after the regularly recurring payment date (eight days in B.C., while employers must pay on the regular pay date in Ontario).

If an employer breaks these rules, the employee may be able to make a complaint through Alberta’s Employment Standards.

Getting a severance package when an employer fails to pay

When your employer fails to pay you for time worked, this could amount to a constructive dismissal. A constructive dismissal occurs when an employer makes or requests changes to an employee’s job, resulting in a fundamental change to their employment and forcing the employee to resign. When key aspects of your job are significantly changed – such as when your employer stops paying your wages – the law allows you to resign from your job and seek full severance through a wrongful dismissal claim. Depending on the facts of your case, submitting a constructive dismissal claim could result in a severance package similar to what an employee receives had they been terminated or fired.

It is important to remember that just because your employer has suggested changes to your role at the company, does not mean you are required to accept them. You can refuse the changes and request that your employment terms remain the same.  If your employer insists on the modifications, you may have a constructive dismissal claim. That’s when you should speak to an employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP to discover your rights – and how much compensation you could be owed.