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wrongful dismissal it's a term you hear often but it doesn't mean what you probably think it means and that could cost you and more importantly we'll reveal the true definition and how employers can avoid wrongful dismissal claims on this week's episode of the employment law minute [Music] welcome to the employment law minute where we talk about common workplace issues and explore practical solutions for both employers and employees I'm your host John Scoles and I'm joined by Ottawa employment lawyer Alex lucha Ferro partner at Sen firu tamarkan LLP right to it pal wrongful dismissal two-term often misunderstood what does it actually mean well this is probably one of the biggest misconceptions in Employment Law John it's a question that we feel day in and day out ultimately at the end of the day what a wrongful dismissal actually means it's simply that the employee has been paid the wrong the wrong amount of severance so it's an issue of severance it doesn't necessarily have to do with why the employee is being terminated or the reason behind the employee being terminated ultimately that that's oftentimes almost always a matter of very little significance the wrongful dismissal occurs when the employees paid the wrong amount of severance when they're let go that's what's problematic so in that respect you know wrongful dismissal aren't very rare they're actually very very common employees get Mis paid or they get paid much much less than what they're actually owed more often than not it's often the case you know when we see severance packages that those severance packages are simply you know cents on the dollar of what they're actually owned so that's what's wrong full of out of this missile it's an extremely common occurrence that employees are paid the wrong amount of severance in an appropriate amounts of severance and typically those kinds of matters we're talking about these kinds of wrongful dismissal in which really the only issue is severance paying what if the appropriate severance period is for an employee oftentimes those situations are very very easily resolved by way of some negotiation so it's all about the money when it comes down to it so an employee that has been wrongfully dismissed how his severance calculated in most cases John severance is going to be calculated on the basis of your your position in your years of service so the longer you've been with the same company the older you are the more senior your position within that company the more severance you're gonna get it can range for a you know employee in their 20s who's been with the company for you know under a year let's say maybe in a layer laborer or a clerical position it could range from a couple of weeks to as much as two years of severance that's generally the the maximum when it comes to severance or the cap that they put on severance 24 months on two years for most employees severance is going to be in the several months of pay sometimes significantly more than that if you're in if you're a longer term employee and again we're looking at considerable amounts of money here if you you know if you take what the average annual salary is for an employee several months of pay is going to be a lot of money it's gonna be much more than whatever minimums the Employment Standards Act provides for and oftentimes people will people get wrong about terminations is the reason why they were let go rather than the amount that they've been offered if I'm an employer watching this right now I'm thinking how do I avoid a wrongful dismissal well there's actually two relatively straightforward ways to avoid a claim for wrongful dismissal or a claim for inappropriate severance number one either provide the right amount of notice or the right amount of paid to employees based on their age position in years of service and offer them up that amount so that there is no dispute about what they're actually owed you're offering it to them right then and there if instead as an employer you want to limit the amount of severance that you're paying you want to restrict that as as much as possible in order to keep your cost down you want to insert into your employment contracts or into your offer letters language that limits an employee's termination entitlements it's perfectly legal to do as long as you're in line with what the Ministry of Labor and the Employment Standards Act provides as an employer and when it comes to termination in severance pay you can limit an employee severance in a contract of employment of employment you've got to make sure that language is very carefully drafted and you have to make sure that that contract is enforceable but that's certainly the best way to limit a potential case for a wrongful dismissal in either case John whether you're an employee thinking that you've been wrongfully dismissed or you're an employer considering letting an employee go you want to contact us and get advice on the situation as an you can be leaving tens and tens of thousands of dollars on the table accepting a severance package that's less than what it should be and as an employer it could cost you tens of thousands of dollars if you offer an employee less severance than what they're actually looking good stuff there my friend we're gonna leave it there for now are you experiencing an issue in the workplace contact us now help at employment law minute CA to reach out 185 5/8 to 150 900 go to employment law minute CA you'll find past episodes of the show resources for employers and employees as well as contact information to help you find practical solutions to workplace problems employment law minute dot CA thanks for watching we'll catch you next time [Music]