900 CHML – Payless Shoes Bankruptcy, Sears Act and Severance Pay

Payless Shoes will soon be filing for creditor protection, ensuring that 2,400 employees in 248 stores across the country will find themselves without any severance pay as they struggle to find new employment elsewhere.

As employment law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP noted when Sears Canada obtained creditor protection before closing its doors in early 2018, bankruptcy laws protect a struggling company, and allow it to favour its secured creditors (banks) over employees. The rights of the employees are pushed to the back of the line.

Lior Samfiru is a Toronto Employment Lawyer and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP. He joined The Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML to explain what the government can do to improve support for employees who often go empty-handed following a company’s bankruptcy. They also discussed the misinformation that continues to exist concerning severance pay in Ontario, as well as the status of Lior’s Sears Act.