Moved provinces for a job and was terminated shortly after. severance question
Looking for some general guidance before I speak with an employment lawyer.
I was recruited for a senior role with a company and signed an employment agreement with them. As part of accepting the position, I moved from a low-cost city in Quebec to Toronto. I left another job to make the move and signed a long-term lease at significantly higher rent.
There are actually two employment documents involved: an offer/agreement directly with the company and a later agreement through an employer-of-record/payroll provider.
One unusual part of the situation is that I had already been doing substantial work for the company for several months before I was formally put on payroll. This included business planning, agreements, consulting and other work requested by management. I was eventually put on payroll, but there was also a delay before I received my first payment.
After moving to Toronto, I feel that my role and responsibilities were gradually reduced/marginalized compared with what I was originally hired to do. I was then terminated. In the termination meeting, I was told the company was restructuring and that the function I was responsible for would no longer be handled in-house. I have a recording of that meeting.
The employer initially offered a relatively small additional settlement in exchange for signing a broad release. I rejected it and submitted a counterproposal raising the unpaid/pre-payroll work, relocation costs, contractual compensation, and changes to my role. They increased the offer somewhat but ultimately said their revised offer was final.
I have not signed the release and am now planning to have an employment lawyer review everything.
My questions are:
- How should the two employment agreements be analyzed when one is directly with the company and the other is through an employer-of-record?
- Could the pre-payroll work and delayed compensation be relevant to my length of employment or other entitlements?
- Could the relocation and subsequent changes to my role potentially be relevant to a constructive dismissal/breach of contract analysis?
- Does the employer’s stated reason of restructuring affect the severance analysis?
- Is it reasonable to reject the settlement and have a lawyer negotiate instead?
I realize nobody can determine my entitlement without reviewing the documents, and I’m definitely planning to get professional advice. Just looking for general perspectives on what issues I should make sure the lawyer considers.