Employment Law Show: Ontario – S10 E133

Episode Summary

Can you be forced to relocate by your employer? Are you owed severance if your company is sold? Employment Lawyer Chris Justice, Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP answers those questions and more on the Employment Law Show. 

LISTEN BELOW to Ontario’s premiere radio show about employment law and workplace rights featuring the province’s leading employment lawyers. You can catch the show on Saturdays and Sundays on 640 Toronto, Newstalk 580 CFRA in Ottawa, and 900 CHML in Hamilton as the hosts take calls from listeners and provide vital answers to employees and employers. 

Listen to the Episode

Show Notes

• Employers are forcing employees to relocate: Employers do not have the right to make fundamental changes to the terms of employment. A significant change can be considered a relocation depending on an employee’s commute. A big relocation that adds over an hour to an employee’s commute can refuse the change and pursue constructive dismissal.
• Twitter layoffs and questions regarding severance: Some Twitter employees have been laid off and there have been suggestions that employees that have been terminated are not owed severance. Employees that are employed by a company based outside of the province and country they work in are entitled to the rights of the region they work in.
• The company sold to new employer influences employee years of service: In the event of a purchase and sale of a company, generally, employees do not have an automatic right to severance from their previous employer. Employees that are hired by the new purchaser should have their previous years of service accounted for. It is important for employees to know that the purchaser of a new company could try and contract out prior years of service. Employees should be really careful when signing a new employment agreement.
• Medical restrictions and employer accommodations in the workplace: In some cases, there are certain medical conditions that can lead to limited abilities in the workplace, such as physical restrictions, medications, etc. Employers are obligated to accommodate an employee’s medical condition in the workplace up until the point of undue hardship.

Need an employment lawyer?

• Pocket Employment Lawyer: Before you call a lawyer, use the Pocket Employment Lawyer to find out if you might have a case. 
• Severance Pay Calculator: Discover how much severance pay you should get when you lose your job, used successfully by nearly 2 million Canadians. 
• Watch our TV Shows: Get further clarity on your rights by watching our popular TV show episodes.