GoodLife Fitness Layoffs and Severance Pay

GoodLife Fitness Centres Inc. is the biggest health club company in Canada. Founded in 1979, the fitness giant operates over 450 locations across the country and employs more than 11,500 people.

The company’s GoodLife brand includes more than 200 locations. Their “budget” gyms Fit4Less and EconoFitness (Quebec) feature 96 and 70 locations, respectively.

Goodlife Fitness also operates a yoga-focused fitness centre group call Oxygen Yoga & Fitness, boasting 60 locations.

Recent layoff at GoodLife Fitness

March 2022

• GoodLife Fitness confirmed that it fired 480 fitness instructors from 189 clubs across Canada. Affected staff were terminated by email, and many had spent at least a decade working for the company.

Severance pay for GoodLife Fitness employees

In Canada, employees at GoodLife Fitness 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 a non-unionized worker receives from their employer when they are fired without cause. If you are fired for cause, you are likely still entitled to full severance.

LEARN MORE
• Severance packages in mass layoffs
• Severance pay for provincially regulated employees

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

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

All non-unionized Canadian employees at GoodLife Fitness are entitled to severance pay during the COVID-19 pandemic if they are terminated or let go from their job.

A company doesn’t have the option of “suspending” their legal obligations due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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

The employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP have represented numerous employees 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 one week’s pay, two weeks’ 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 include age, length of service, position, bonuses, benefits, and the ability to find new work.

If you work at GoodLife Fitness, you are likely 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 GoodLife Fitness 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.