Nordia Employees and Severance Pay

Nordia is closing its office in Orillia, Ontario.

The call centre will shut down operations on July 31, 2020, putting around 300 non-unionized employees out of work.

Nordia employee Tammy Gilson told OrilliaMatters.com that the unexpected news was devastating, and that many of the employees are unsure what they will once the office closes.

Gibson said that Nordia told employees that anyone with less than five years of service will not receive severance pay.

Philip van Leeuwen, vice-president of strategy and corporate communications for Nordia, said some employees will receive severance pay, but many will not.

Nordia employees and severance facts

If you are a non-unionized Nordia employee facing termination, keep in mind these extremely important facts about severance pay in Ontario. Severance pay is also called pay in lieu of notice.

Companies, including call centres, rely on the fact that most of their employees are unaware of their true employment rights.

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Inadequate Severance Package and Wrongful Dismissal

Companies rarely hand out full severance packages when laying off employees without cause. Roughly 90% of employees experience a wrongful dismissal when they lose their job. In other words, those individuals who are let go are not given the correct amount of severance pay, under common law.

We calculate severance pay by looking at various factors, including position, age, length of employment, to name a few.

Common law severance pay is owed to all employees – including those who have less than 5 years of service.

Working notice for Nordia employees

An employer can provide employees with either advance notice of their termination (working notice) or pay in lieu of notice (severance pay/termination pay). An employee may also receive a combination of both.

Working notice requires an employer to tell the employee when their employment will be terminated in advance. The employee should be paid their usual rate or salary during this notice period.

In the case of the 300 Nordia call centre workers, they have been given working notice until July 31, 2020, which is roughly a 5-month period. These 5 months will be factored into an employee’s potential severance package.

For instance, Company X may owe employee John Smith 10 months of severance pay upon termination. Instead of providing the full 10 months’ pay to the employee after they are let go, Company X may decide to provide that worker with 8 months of working notice (advance notice of their layoff) and only 2 months’ pay after the termination date.

It is extremely important to talk with an employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP to determine if your working notice period is adequate. If it is not, your employer may be required to provide severance in addition to notice, in order to meet your full severance entitlements under common law.

Don’t Call the Ministry of Labour

You should not contact the Ministry of Labour when the company lets you go. The Ministry of Labour cannot help you obtain severance pay under common law. They can only secure your MINIMUM severance entitlements under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). The difference between common law and ESA severance pay can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, if not more.

You forfeit your right to use the services of our experienced Ontario employment lawyers when you file a claim with the Ministry of Labour

See Also:
Wrongful dismissal in Ontario
Employment Lawyers in Barrie

Meaningless deadlines on severance offers

A common myth suggests that when a company like Nordia fires an employee, the employee must accept a severance offer within a matter of days. If that severance offer deadline passes, that person’s right to severance pay expires. That is simply not true. An individual in Ontario can pursue their full severance rights up to a period of two years after their moment of termination.