Ottawa hotel terminates employees on temporary leave

Sheraton hotel in downtown Ottawa has decided to terminate seventy employees as a result of the pandemic. According to the union, only nine staff members remain.

Alex Lucifero, an Ottawa employment lawyer and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joins Leslie Roberts on Newstalk 580 CFRA to discuss the recent terminations and what this will mean for employee’s rights to severance.

What They Discussed

Was the Sheraton hotel staff layoff legal?

It is important to remember that the staff at Sheraton hotel are unionized. If the collective agreement between the union and the employer allows the termination and severance package, it is legal.

Once the pandemic is over and the hotel re-hires its staff, will terminated employees be recalled first?

If an employee’s position has been terminated and the appropriate severance offered, the employment relationship is over and an employer does not have to re-hire previous staff members. However, a union could argue that unionized employees were ousted in order to bring in non-unionized employees.

Does the length of service of an employee factor into severance entitlements?

Typically for non-unionized employees, the age, position and length of service are factored into the full severance entitlements. Union employees’ severance packages are dictated by the collective agreement.