Top 3 Videos by Alberta Employment Lawyers Discussing Severance After Job Termination

By: Bow River Law

Published: 15 January 2025

Severance Review Services including Reasonable Notice Employment Law Services by Bow River Law LLP.

All of Bow River Law LLP’s materials posted on Youtube are for legal information and discussion purposes only, and should not be considered legal advice.  If you are in a legal situation, you should speak to a lawyer directly.

S1 E8: Can My Employer Just Terminate My Employment Without a Good Reason?

Alberta employment lawyer, Joel Fairbrother, at Bow River Law in Calgary explains that in most cases outside of the unionized environment an employer can terminate an Alberta employee without a reason, but they are required to pay severance or reasonable notice if they do so.  Employers are generally not required to pay severance if they have just cause for termination.  The main exception to an employer’s general right to terminate a non-unionized employee for any reason is human rights: an Alberta employer is not permitted to terminate an employee’s employment for reasons that are considered discriminatory under the Alberta Human Rights Act.  Any employee that has been dismissed in Alberta, regardless of the reasons, should consider getting legal advice from an employment lawyer like the ones at Bow River Law LLP in Calgary.

Can my employer terminate my employment without a good reason?

The answer to this might surprise some of you. In most cases outside of the unionized work environment, an employer is allowed to terminate your employment without a reason. There are exceptions, but generally that is the rule.

In a unionized environment, usually an employer needs to have what’s called just cause for termination. They need to have a pretty good reason, either misconduct or failure to perform or failing to comply with workplace policies in a very sort of severe and repeated way. In a non-unionized context, they can normally terminate without just cause. But, if they do that, they have to provide you with severance, or what we also call “reasonable notice.”

Most of the time, employees are entitled to severance pay or reasonable notice. There are some exceptions to this and that’s what separates the unionized from non-unionized context. In a non-unionized context, they can terminate for whatever reason, any reason, or no reason, and they have to pay severance. The main exceptions are situations involving human rights.

An employer in a unionized or non-unionized context cannot terminate for discriminatory reasons most of the time. There are exceptions to that exception as well, but generally speaking, an employer cannot terminate your employment and say it was because of race or gender or sexual orientation, or another human rights ground.

Even if they do not give a reason, if we can establish that one of the real reasons was based on one of those protected human rights grounds, then it’s still not allowed. In these cases, you can file a human rights complaint against the employer.

S2 E9: What Is a Severance Review and Why Is It Important?

In this informative video, employment lawyer Joel Fairbrother from Bow River Law in Calgary, Alberta, provides insights into Severance reviews and their importance. He explains that when employees are dismissed from their jobs in Alberta, they are usually entitled to a severance package, which is also called reasonable notice. A Severance review involves the employee sitting down with a lawyer to discuss their employment and termination of employment in order to determine what severance pay they are likely entitled to.

In a severance package review, an employment lawyer asks pertinent questions and provides the employee with an understanding of what their Severance should be, evaluating whether the employer’s offer was fair and explaining the employee’s legal rights and obligations to them. Joel emphasizes the need for these reviews to be thorough, and that they usually take about an hour to get through everything.

Why is a severance review important?

In Alberta, if an employee is dismissed from their job, they are usually going to be entitled to reasonable notice or “severance pay.” A severance review is where the employee comes and sits down with a lawyer and tells the lawyer about their situation. The lawyer asks lots of questions and the lawyer then gives the employee a sense of what their severance should be and whether the severance offered by their employer was fair or not. Because usually, when an employer terminates someone’s employment, they’re going to offer them severance. Not always, but usually.

Then the severance review determines if the amount offered is fair or, more importantly, from the lawyer’s perspective, if it is in line with what Alberta Employment Law says the employee is entitled to.

Depending on the law firm you go to, some law firms will do these reviews very quickly.

Bow River Law, on the other hand, believes that a severance review needs to be thorough. We do a full hour-long consultation, as we’ve found this is what is required to fully assess the situation. This also provides the individual with time to examine the facts and understand our legal team’s assessment of the client’s entitlements.

S2 E15: How Can an Employment Lawyer Assist with Severance Negotiations?

In this video, Alberta employment lawyer Amanda Jacinto, from employment law firm Bow River Law in Calgary, addresses the topic of Severance negotiations in Alberta. She delves into how an employment lawyer can assist individuals in understanding and maximizing their entitlements in Severance packages offered by employers.

Can an employment lawyer assist in severance negotiations?

First off, Bow River Law will review your severance package that was offered to you by your employer. In reviewing the severance package with you, we will go over the terms of the working relationship, review any pre-existing employment contracts, discuss your compensation, what benefits were you entitled to, and the events surrounding the termination or even leading up to your termination, and applying and examining all these factors. Our employment law team determines whether or not the employer has offered you enough severance pay in comparison with case law.

If it is determined that the employer’s offer is unreasonable and that you are entitled to greater compensation under the law, Bow River Law can represent you in negotiating additional severance or compensation. Our role is to assess your legal entitlements and advocate for them on your behalf, supported by relevant case law.

To sum up, in this video, Amanda outlines the process of reviewing Severance packages, discussing employment contracts and compensation, assessing benefits, and examining the circumstances surrounding termination. She emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the offered Severance aligns with legal standards and, if not, how Bow River Law can advocate for additional compensation on behalf of their clients. Bow River Law LLP is located in Calgary, Alberta.

Contact us today to discuss your severance review or book an initial consultation. We’re here to help!