Employment lawyer Alex Lucifero on CTV News talks Twitter ultimatum

Interview Summary

Among reports of terminations, Elon Musk recently proposed an ultimatum to staff still at Twitter; accept working overtime and ‘hardcore’ long hours or resign from their positions. Can employers legally force employees to work overtime? What are employees entitled to if they refuse these requests?

Alex Lucifero, an Ottawa employment lawyer and Managing Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joined CTV News Ottawa to discuss this ultimatum and more on employee rights.

Interview Notes

• Employer demanding employees work overtime: In Ontario, employers do not have the right to implement overtime for employees without their consent. Employers can ask employees to work overtime or overtime could have originally been agreed to in an employment contract at the start of a new job.
• Employees refusing to work overtime: Employees cannot be forced to work overtime and can refuse requests made by their employer. In the case of Elon Musk and Twitter’s ultimatum, an increased workload and no change in compensation could lead to constructive dismissal. A significant change made to the terms of employment can be considered a breach of contract and employees would be owed severance pay.
• Severance pay for Twitter employees: Employees that have been constructively dismissed would be owed severance pay and a general severance package would not be possible. Severance pay for most employees in Canada is based on the age of an employee, the length of service as well as the position.