WestJet cutting hours, laying off over fed COVID tests

WestJet has announced that it will be cutting hours or laying off 1,000 employees as a result of the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision comes in response to the federal government’s recent announcement that it will require negative COVID-19 tests from air travellers returning to Canada.

The Calgary-based airline cited “volatile demand” and “instability in the face of continuing federal government travel advisories and restrictions” in its decision that will impact jobs and slash flight schedules.

The cuts will impact both WestJet and its low-cost subsidiary Swoop. Employees will be impacted in a number of different ways, including temporary layoffs, unpaid leaves and a reduction in hours.

Termination agreements for WestJet employees

In Canada, non-unionized employees at WestJet are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance packages in mass layoffs
• Rights to severance for federally regulated employees
• Severance pay in a recession 

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper compensation if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you aren’t given the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.