Need Employment Law Help in St. Catharines?
St. Catharines, the largest city in Ontario’s Niagara Region, is the sixth largest urban area in Ontario. Located 51km south of Toronto and not far from the US border at Fort Erie, St. Catharines is home to a growing population and a variety of labour industries.
St. Catharines, formerly known as General Motor’s largest employer, is now the largest employer of the District School Bord of Niagara. St. Catharines also hosts employment in the automotive industry, manufacturing, telecommunications and is home to several post-secondary institutions including Brock University.
If you live or work in St. Catharines and are facing issues with your employment, whether it be a wrongful dismissal, changes to your job duties, or you’ve just received a severance package and you are not sure what to do, the lawyers at Ertl Lawyers are here to help.
If you need employment lawyers in St. Catharines, call Ertl Lawyers.
Who We Are: St. Catharines Employment Lawyers
Ertl Lawyers is a leading disability and employment law firm practicing in the GTA, including St. Catharines, Ontario.
We’ve helped thousands of clients get the severance pay and disability benefits they deserve.
Our mission as a Toronto disability lawyer and employment law firm has always been about better, faster results.
Learn more about us by visiting our team page.
What We Do: Employment Law
At Ertl Lawyers, our lawyers strive to get you the severance you deserve. Our lawyers have specific experience with employment law issues in St. Catharines and are available to assist you. If you are facing a wrongful termination, an inadequate severance package or you are an employer looking for assistance with terminating an employee, and you are located in St. Catharines, Ertl Lawyers can help.
Ertl Lawyers has experience in a variety of cases including, but not limited to, the following areas:
Termination of Employment
Termination of employment can happen to anyone, in any industry. If you have been terminated, it is likely that you are owed some type of severance package. You might have questions about whether or not the severance package you have been offered is good considering how long you worked for the company and how long it might take you to get a new job.
If you have been terminated without cause and offered a severance package, this means that the employer has decided to terminate you at no fault of your own. Reasons for a termination without cause can include restructuring or downsizing.
Ertl Lawyers, St. Catharines employment lawyers, recommend having your severance package reviewed by a lawyer who specializes in employment law. It is likely that your severance package is made up of several components, such as pay in lieu of notice, severance pay and/or gratuitous compensation and the lawyers at Ertl Lawyers can help you understand what each of these components mean. You can also check out our free guide on Understanding Your Severance Package. You can also check out our online Severance Calculator to see what your severance package entitlements could be.
If you have questions regarding severance laws in Ontario or your severance package, contact Ertl Lawyers, St. Catharines employment lawyers, for a free consultation over the phone.
Termination with Cause
If you have been terminated for cause, this means that your employer is saying that you did something wrong and it had no choice but to terminate you for it. When a termination with cause occurs, you are not entitled to a severance package.
An employer can allege a variety of reasons to terminate you for cause. Some examples of a termination with cause include insubordination, unauthorized absences, incompetence, theft or fraud, dishonesty, or lying to your employer during an investigation.
Often, employers will try and terminate an employee for cause as a result of poor performance. We recommend checking out Ertl Lawyers’ YouTube video on 5 Signs my PIP is a Sham for more information on why performance improvement plans and termination for cause as a result of poor performance is something you can fight.
If your employer has terminated you for cause, don’t give up. You might still be entitled to severance.
Contact the St. Catharines 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, fundamental change to a significant aspect of your employment, this is called constructive dismissal. For example, your employer has decided to reduce your pay by 40% or ask you to work in a location several hours away. Constructive dismissal can also occur when the work environment has become so toxic as a result of ongoing harassment that you can no longer continue to work.
Constructive dismissal only applies if a change to your employment was made without notice and without your consent. If your employer tells you that in 12 months from now, they are changing your pay structure, you may not qualify for a constructive dismissal case.
If you think that you might be experiencing a constructive dismissal, or you aren’t sure if you have a constructive dismissal claim, Ertl Lawyers, St. Catharines employment lawyers, can help you. Contact us to find out more about your rights and visit our webpage on Constructive Dismissal for more information.
Ertl Lawyers: St. Catharines Employment Lawyers
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 St. Catharines.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much severance pay am I entitled to?
The minimum amount of severance pay that your employer has to pay you when you are terminated without cause is set by the legislation. However, you may be entitled to more than the legislative minimum amounts under the common law. The common law is how a judge would evaluate your entitlements for severance when you are terminated without cause. The common law severance entitlements tend to be more than what the legislation says you are owed.
In order to determine if you are entitled to more than the legislative severance pay amounts, employment lawyers will ask to review your employment contract. Your employment contract will often set out some information about what you can expect if you are ever terminated.
Contact Ertl Lawyers, St. Catharine’s employment lawyers, to have your employment contract and severance package reviewed before you sign anything related to your termination. Ertl Lawyers offers a free phone consultation.
Am I entitled to severance pay if I quit my employment?
If you quit your job because you no longer want to work there or you got a new job, then you are not entitled to severance pay.
Quitting your job means that you are deciding to leave and your employer does not owe you anything for this decision. You are only entitled to severance pay if you resign under very specific circumstances. For example, you might be entitled to severance if you quit because you were experiencing ongoing harassment that you reported to the company and it was permitted to continue.
Ertl Lawyers would, however, recommend that you contact experienced St. Catharines employment lawyers prior to resigning if you are experiencing ongoing harassment at work to help you determine the best course of action.
Does the reason for my termination matter?
Your employer might provide you with a specific reason about why you are being terminated or they may just say they are choosing to part ways with you and keep it general. The reason why they have decided to terminate you does not usually matter.
If you were terminated for cause, meaning your employer is saying you did something wrong and therefore not offering you a severance package, then your employer must tell you the reasons why you are being terminated. Since the threshold to terminate an employee for cause is high, it is important to know what the reasoning is in the event that the reason does not meet the high threshold and you are actually entitled to a severance package.
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?
Ertl Lawyers strives to get you the severance package you deserve. We offer a variety of employment law services such as review of employment contracts, severance package review, negotiating a better severance package or assistance with human rights issues in the workplace.
If you are an employer looking for help, Ertl Lawyers offers services such as drafting employment contracts, assisting with terminating employees, defending claims or complaints and drafting and/or implementing workplace policies. David Ertl of Ertl Lawyers is also certified in workplace investigations.
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, St. Catharines Employment Lawyer and owner/founder of Ertl Lawyers explains topics such as what happens to your pension after you are fired, how age can affect your severance pay, what happens to your benefits 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 in Toronto who can provide you with information relating to your case. The employment lawyers at Ertl Lawyers will take the time to review your case and assess your options.
Example Cases Won by Ertl Lawyers: Kingston 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, well over the minimum amount the legislation said he was entitled to.
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 with less than 5 years of service. Ertl Lawyers got the terminated employee six months’ full compensation, including salary and benefits – more than one month of pay per year of service.
Ertl Lawyers has helped thousands of clients get the severance they deserve. They can help you too.
Interested in learning more about Ertl Lawyers, St. Catharines employment lawyers, cases? Visit David Ertl’s biography webpage to find more.
Reviews: Ertl Lawyers, St. Catharines Employment Lawyers
We know that reviews are an important part in making your decision on what employment lawyer to hire. Interested to find out what others have thought of our services? We have an entire section dedicated to client reviews. Learn what others in St. Catharines have said about us.
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Contact Us: Employment Lawyers, St. Catharines
Do you live in St. Catharines? Do you travel to St. Catharines to work? Are you in need of expert help regarding your employment? Contact Ertl Lawyers, experienced employment lawyers in St. Catharines for help.
Our help can make all the difference.