Hamilton is known as a port city on the western tip of Lake Ontario. Hamilton is home to conservation areas, waterfalls and the Niagara Escarpment. With a population of over 530,000 people, and located just 58 kilometers southwest of Toronto, Hamilton is a growing community in the GTHA.
Hamilton offers employees work in industries such as food and hospitality, manufacturing, customer service and administrative work. Hamilton is also home to trades, transportation and labour jobs, as well as education and healthcare fields.
If you live or work in Hamilton and are facing issues with your employment, whether it be receiving a severance package, constructive dismissal, or workplace harassment and bullying, the lawyers at Ertl Lawyers are here to help.
If you need employment lawyers in Hamilton, Ertl Lawyers employment lawyers are here for you.
Who We Are: Hamilton Employment Lawyers
Ertl Lawyers is a leading employment and disability law firm practicing in the GTA, including Hamilton, Ontario.
We’ve helped thousands of clients get the severance pay and disability benefits they deserve.
Our mission as employment and long term disability lawyers in Toronto has always been about better, faster results.
Learn more about us by visiting our team page.
What We Do – Employment Law
The experienced lawyers at Ertl Lawyers are experts in dealing with a wide array of employment law issues in Hamilton. If you are an employee facing a wrongful dismissal or an employer who isn’t sure how to implement a new policy, and you are located in Hamilton, Ertl Lawyers can help you.
Ertl Lawyers has experience in a variety of cases including, but not limited to, the following areas:
Termination of Employment
In the case of a termination of employment in Ontario, without cause, your employer has to provide you with notice that your job is coming to an end, or pay in lieu of notice. You may also qualify for severance pay if you have worked in your job for 5 years or more and your employer has a payroll of $2.5 million or over.
A termination without cause is when your employer has decided to let you go at no fault of your own, for example, company restructuring or downsizing.
Usually, an employer will offer you a severance package in Ontario that includes notice or pay in lieu of notice, severance pay (if applicable), plus other compensation if you agree to sign a release. Before you sign anything, make sure you contact Ertl Lawyers, employment lawyers in Hamilton, to have your termination package reviewed. You might be entitled to more compensation.
Check out our Severance Calculator to see what your severance package entitlements could be.
Termination with Cause
Being terminated on allegations of cause can be overwhelming, emotional and daunting. Your employer has alleged that you have done something wrong and they are letting you go without providing you with any sort of termination pay or severance package.
Allegations of termination for cause can include insubordination, gross incompetence and extremely poor performance, neglect of duty, theft, fraud or dishonesty. It could also include lying to your employer during an investigation, breaching company policies, or assaulting a colleague.
If your employer has terminated you for cause, don’t give up. You might still be entitled to severance.
Contact the Hamilton employment lawyers, Ertl Lawyers, for more information or visit our Terminated with Cause webpage to learn more.
Constructive Dismissal
When your employer makes a unilateral change to a fundamental term of your employment without providing you advance warning or pay instead of the advanced warning, or without your consent, this could be cause for a constructive dismissal claim. For example, your boss has stated your salary will be reduced by 45%, effective tomorrow.
You could also have a constructive dismissal claim if your workplace has become so toxic that it would be considered impossible for you to be able to continue to go to work. Examples of this type of constructive dismissal include ongoing harassment by a colleague that you reported to your employer who has not taken appropriate steps to resolve the issue.
If you have experienced either of the above, or you aren’t sure if you have a constructive dismissal claim, Ertl Lawyers, Hamilton employment lawyers, can help you. Contact us to find out more about your rights and visit our webpage on Constructive Dismissal in Ontario for more information.
Ertl Lawyers: Employment Lawyers, Hamilton
For more information about what we do at Ertl Lawyers, visit our Employment Law page to find out more about how we can help you with your employment in Hamilton.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much severance pay am I entitled to?
If you are terminated without cause, the legislation states that you are entitled to at least one week per year of service, to a maximum of eight weeks, of pay for termination pay or pay in lieu of notice. You may also be entitled to severance pay, if you qualify.
However, you are only limited to the legislative amounts if you have an employment contract that effectively states you will receive no more than what the legislation offers. Make sure you have an experienced employment lawyer review your employment contract to determine if your contract limits you in any way.
You may be entitled to additional compensation, called reasonable common law notice, if your employment contract does not limit your entitlements or if you do not have an employment contract at all.
It is best to have your employment contract reviewed by the employment lawyers at Ertl Lawyers to determine what you might be eligible for.
Am I entitled to severance pay if I quit my employment?
You are not entitled to severance pay if you quit your job. There are a few exceptions, including if you quit because you were experiencing ongoing harassment that you reported without receiving assistance from your employer. However, these are tricky cases and it would always be beneficial to consult with an employment lawyer before taking any steps.
If you quit because you just didn’t want to work there anymore or you got a new job, you are not entitled to severance pay.
What is wrongful termination or wrongful dismissal?
Wrongful termination or wrongful dismissal mean the same thing; your employer has terminated you without cause and did not provide you with enough of a severance package.
What makes your termination wrongful, in this circumstance, is that you didn’t get enough money. The reasons surrounding why you were let go do not necessarily play a factor in whether or not your termination was wrongful. If you think your termination was unjust, Ertl Lawyers’ wrongful dismissal lawyers in Toronto can help you weigh your options.
Does the reason for my termination matter?
Being terminated without cause, the reasons for why you were let go do not matter. All that matters is how much of a severance package you were paid.
If you were terminated for cause then the reasons matter. Your employer has to meet a high threshold to show that there actually was cause to terminate you and ought to have offered you the opportunity to fix it or improve and in order to do that, you have to know what it is you are doing wrong.
If you were terminated because of your age, sex, religion, etc., then it matters because it could potentially be a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
How can the employment lawyers at Ertl Lawyers help me?
At Ertl Lawyers, we want to get you the severance you deserve. We offer services including reviewing severance packages, reviewing contracts, negotiating severance packages, fighting dismissals for cause and human rights complaints.
Contact us today to find out more about how Ertl Lawyers can help you.
If you have more questions, Ertl Lawyers has answers. We offer free, downloadable guides on Understanding My Severance Package, Help! I Have Been Fired With Cause, Constructive Dismissal and Workplace Discrimination and Harassment.
You can also check out our YouTube video’s where David Ertl, Hamilton Employment Lawyer and owner/founder of Ertl Lawyers explains topics such as what happens to your commissions after you are fired, how age can affect your severance pay, what happens to your pension when you are terminated and many more areas of interest.
Of course, you can always contact us for a free consultation over the phone with an experienced employment lawyer who can provide you with information relating to your case. The employment lawyers in Toronto at Ertl Lawyers will take the time to review your case and assess your options.
Example Cases Won by Ertl Lawyers: Hamilton, Ontario Employment Lawyers
In Drysdale v. Panasonic Canada Inc., 2015 68678 (CanLII), David Ertl of Ertl Lawyers, represented an employee who was terminated from Panasonic. David was able to get his client, a warehouse employee, 22 months of severance!
Ertl Lawyers was also able to assist a terminated employee in the case of Summerfield v. Staples Canada Inc., 2016 ONSC 3656 (CanLII). Staples refused to provide proper severance to Ertl Lawyers’ client, who was a 39-year-old Account Manager. Ertl Lawyers was able to get the terminated employee six months’ full compensation – more than one month per year of service!
Interested in learning more about Ertl Lawyers, Hamilton employment lawyers, cases? Visit David Ertl’s biography webpage to find more.
Reviews: Ertl Lawyers, Hamilton Employment Lawyers
Interested to find out what others have thought of our services? We have an entire section dedicated to client reviews. Learn what others in Hamilton have said about us.
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Contact Us: Employment Lawyers, Hamilton
Do you live in Hamilton? Do you travel to Hamilton to work? Are you in need of expert help regarding your employment? Contact Ertl Lawyers, experienced employment lawyers in Hamilton for help.
Our help can make all the difference.
