Severance rights set to expire for workers still on March 2020 layoffs

TORONTO, March 9, 2022 – Thousands of Canadians still sitting on temporary layoffs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 are running out of time to protect their employment rights and pursue full severance pay as a key deadline looms, warns employment law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

“The reality is that temporary layoffs are illegal, even if they are related to an economic downturn or pandemic,” said employment lawyer Lior Samfiru, national co-managing partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP. Employees can treat their layoff as a termination and seek a full severance package.

“What most people don’t realize is that their ability to file a claim for severance expires two years from the moment they are laid off. Those individuals who go over the two-year layoff anniversary and remain off work will have to wait to hear from their employer and will ultimately lose their ability to enforce their workplace rights until that happens,” said Samfiru.

The firm continues to be contacted by non-unionized workers who, after being sent home at the beginning of the outbreak, still have no clear indication from their employer on when they will brought back to work and are now reviewing legal options.

For further information, please contact Ryan Bonnar, Marketing and Media Relations Manager at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, ryan.bonnar@stlawyers.ca, 416-216-5893