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ARTICLE · 22 JUNE 2020

COVID-19 And Relief From Mass Termination Rules

Littler Mendelson
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Canadian businesses have suffered severe financial distress due to COVID-19. Many employers have been forced to lay off their employees hoping they would only be required to do so temporarily.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Rhonda B. Levy
Rhonda B. Levy
George J.A. Vassos
George J.A. Vassos
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Canadian businesses have suffered severe financial distress due to COVID-19. Many employers have been forced to lay off their employees hoping they would only be required to do so temporarily. It has become clear that the statutory periods for temporary layoffs have not provided many employers with adequate time to weather the storm. By necessity, some employers must now look beyond temporary layoffs to the implementation of a mass/group termination in order to survive the catastrophic financial impact of the pandemic.

In a previous Insight, we provided a detailed review of the legislative requirements and time periods for temporary layoffs in Canada, including information about any relief from those requirements that has been made available to employers during COVID-19. In this Insight, we provide a review of the legislative requirements and time periods for mass/group terminations in the Canadian common law provinces (i.e., we do not review Quebec) and pursuant

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