Different legal requirements for group terminations when operating in the Canadian North
By Genevieve E. Mushaluk and Jenna R. Seavers, Fillmore Riley LLP
In December 2015, a mass termination of employment took place at the troubled De Beers Canada mine, located in Snap Lake, N.W.T. CEO Kim Truter personally advised 434 employees that they were out of work and that the mine would be closing. Of the 400 permanent employees, about 100 were northerners.
In addition to making difficult business decisions, companies must also navigate employment law to ensure the execution of “group terminations” is in accordance with employment legislation. In the De Beers layoff, which involved the termination of more than 300 employees, the legislation provides that permanent employees were entitled to 16 weeks’ notice of the termination of their employment. Further, pursuant to the legislation, De Beers was required to inform the government of its intention to terminate the employees.
“Group termination” refers to a situation in which an employer will be terminating numerous employees working in a single location, either simultaneously or within a short timeframe. In most provinces, when an employer plans to terminate 50 or more employees in a span of four weeks or less, employment legislation requires that the employer be mindful of specific group termination legal obligations. One of the requirements is that the employer must provide notification to the government.
Group terminations are covered in both federal and provincial employment legislation. The general requirements are largely similar for employers operating federally and within most of the Canadian provinces; however, different rules come into play when dealing with the northern provinces and/or territories, specifically Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.