Were You Laid-Off Unexpectedly?
Many employers and employees in the Alberta workforce use the term lay-off and termination interchangeably, but they are different. Any permanent end of the working relationship is in legal terms a termination of employment, not a lay-off.
Temporary lay-offs are typically imposed by employers due to shortage of work, and are sometimes even called “shortage of work” layoffs. Recently, many employers have imposed lay-offs or even extended lay-offs on the basis of COVID-19 or the rapidly changing economy in Calgary and throughout Alberta.
The Alberta Employment Standards Code has sections relating to lay-offs and when extended temporary lay-offs automatically become permanent lay-offs, which are really just terminations of employment.
