Wrongful Dismissal Lawsuits Becoming More Common in Ontario

Terminated employees in Ontario are seeking more money in a trend that sees the courts being used to extend and enhance their severance packages as well as seeking punitive damages.

(PRWEB) April 28, 2005 -- It use to be that you would terminate an employee and provide a severance package and that was that. Not anymore.

Today terminated employees are seeking more money in a trend that sees the courts being used to extend and enhance their severance packages as well as seeking punitive damages. In Toronto, Ontario alone during the first month of the year over 850 wrongful dismissal claims were filed against employers and the trend promises not to let up.

Why is this happening? In most cases employers do not handle terminations properly thus leading to legal wrangling that proves costly to the business and the bottom-line. In essence employers are not up to speed on the laws that impact not only employment but terminations as well.

Employers, whether they are a small firm or a large corporation, are finding they need to have better knowledge and methods for handling employment terminations. While information for this is available on the Internet most of it only provides certain basics and assumes each scenario is the same. This usually leads to even more lawsuits because of misapplication of the available information and lack of proper training to handle terminations. Add to this the fact that advertising for wrongful dismissal in help wanted columns and internet workplace sites with information about terminations and lawyers advertisements aimed at the newly unemployed, brings a new dimension to terminations.

Most employers fail to follow simple procedures and rules to ensure an uneventful termination. These procedures included the following steps.

Having effective, legally sound discipline strategies
Creating a paper trail that will hold up in court
Providing proper severance packages (sometimes saving one or two months salary is lost when costs for legal counsel come into play)
Treatment of the employee during the termination process
Knowing the difference between Just cause Vs Constructive dismissal
Dealing with claims of bullying and harassment
Having proper Exit Interviews
Using an outplacement service to mitigate

Employers and HR staff have to be better prepared and more knowledgeable today in dealing with terminations. Seminars such as the one offered by Bernardi Fairbarin ( http://www.bestlaw.ca.), a legal firm in Mississauga Ontario, specializing in HR issues, provides the HR staff of companies and organizations with the tools and a better understanding of handling terminations. And add to this a unique prospective at their seminars from plaintiffs lawyer, who as a guest, is as part of the seminar, shares valuable insights. Knowing what you as an employer or HR professional will be facing in the termination of employees is important today, taking the time to learn the best win-win scenario and applying it means you will not be facing the high costs associated with a claim for wrongful dismissal.

To learn more about the seminars contact lauren@bestlaw.ca or vrt@vrt-consultants.com

###