Question about getting fired abruptly

[jabjab]

A friend of mine has been with a mortgage company for about 9 months or so. They do a work from home structure where they come into the office 2 days a week. He car pools with another co worker and last week the co worker's car broke down so they decided to work from home instead.

Now today, he got a call from his manager and they just let him go siting that he didn't come into work on Friday ( a work from home day). Is there anything that can be done? He said he didn't receive any other performance issues or warnings before.

Can someone apply for unemployment insurance if they get fired? any advice I can relay to him would be greatly appreciated.

[Yolobimmer]

If Elon bought his company, no he's fooked.

And no from a labour standards place. They usually award 1 month per year of work in case of wrongful dismissal.

Unless you can make a case to the Alberta Human Rights commission.

[Xtrema]

There is more to this story for $500, Alex.

As for EI, it really depends if employer is firing with cause or without cause. Unless they need a replacement, a firing without cause will be much simpler and your friend will get EI.

Probably sucks for mortgage biz right now and they probably want to cut some headcounts anyway.

[kertejud2]

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As for EI, it really depends if employer is firing with cause or without cause. Unless they need a replacement, a firing without cause will be much simpler and your friend will get EI.

Unless there's an employment contract that would state otherwise (and I'd be surprised if there was given the little information), for a 9 month employee you only need to pay out a week to satisfy the termination notice requirement. They'd be insane not to do that and risk a headache.

[bjstare]

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There is more to this story for $500, Alex.

Absolutely. My guess is friend was a shit employee, and this was the nail in the coffin.

[Cagare]

Certainly more to the story. Let them go with cause or with severence? I mean two separate things. If for cause then go see a lawyer.

If there is severance then it's just a discussion of how much the severance is. I don't remember all the rules but for 9 months, I am betting if you got 2 weeks then that's going to be about it, don't really bother chasing that down one bit.

In the end lots of lawyers are happy to consult on this I am sure.

[ExtraSlow]

An under 1 year employee has little recourse. 1 week "notice period" is about all they can expect. Don't need much documentation for such a new employee either.

Your pal coukd request to be "laid off due to a shortage of work" to qualify for EI, that's what I'd focus on if I were them. Worth a lot more than the 1 weeks pay. Ask nicely.

[jabjab]

Sorry, he was employed for 1.5 years and they only gave him 1 week severance. Seems low to me

[kertejud2]

Under 2 years only requires 1 week unless more is negotiated as part of the employment contract or other collective agreement.

[killramos]

Moral of the story kids. Show up for work.

[ExtraSlow]

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Sorry, he was employed for 1.5 years and they only gave him 1 week severance. Seems low to me

Has he asked them to consider his feelings?

[Brent.ff]

If Friday is a work from home day.. why was he carpooling in?

[jabjab]

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If Friday is a work from home day.. why was he carpooling in?

Car pooling on Thursday. Friday is a work from home day but apparently they wanted him to come in on Friday to make up for it? Not exactly sure

[ExtraSlow]

So best case they wrote his ROE as a layoff, second best case they pay him 1 week. There is no chance he gets the job back.

[ShermanEF9]

He doesn't have to sign the release should he choose to pursue it legally... But for ~1year of employment, probably not worth it... I will Daily Double that there is more to this story though.

[suntan]

It will cost him 10k just to file a statement of claim. If any lawyer even takes the case.

[msommers]

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It will cost him 10k just to file a statement of claim. If any lawyer even takes the case.

Unless he cites discrimination, then they'll come out of the woodwork

[killramos]

The job market is pretty good. I’d focus your efforts on the next thing rather than some perceived sleight over small $’s

[suntan]

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Unless he cites discrimination, then they'll come out of the woodwork

That’s why I only hire white people.

[Kloubek]

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A friend of mine has been with a mortgage company for about 9 months or so. They do a work from home structure where they come into the office 2 days a week. He car pools with another co worker and last week the co worker's car broke down so they decided to work from home instead.

Now today, he got a call from his manager and they just let him go siting that he didn't come into work on Friday ( a work from home day). Is there anything that can be done? He said he didn't receive any other performance issues or warnings before.

Can someone apply for unemployment insurance if they get fired? any advice I can relay to him would be greatly appreciated.

I can't speak to the severance, though there are specific rules for that, which I believe have already been addressed in the thread. 1 week sounds around right.

It seems to me there is something not being stated here. I wouldn't be surprised if there were previous issues with his employment there after all, and this was the "last straw" (so to speak) or they are using it as an excuse to get rid of him. You say "they decided" to work from home. Is that even their call to make? As a Manager myself, my team does not dictate to me how and when they wish to work.

The key for him will be whether they fired him with cause or not. The former indicates his conduct is so egregious that his employer had no choice but to fire him on the spot. Usually, this is due to theft, violence, bullying, or something along those lines. It can also be for poor work, but that would require a paper trail which from the sounds of it, they don't have. While not showing up for work is a good way for his employer to claim job abandonment, that too is a process and I think they would have a challenging time proving that, so he might have a case for wrongful dismissal. However, I believe he would not be eligible for EI under these circumstances until that is proven in court.

If they are letting him go "without cause", he will be eligible for EI, but it will be difficult for him to get any kind of retribution otherwise. This is what happened to me a few years back, and I had the same question as to whether I would be eligible.