Unjust Dismissal Complaints

Unjust Dismissal Complaints for federally regulated employees.

Employees who work for federally regulated industries (such as banks, airlines, railways etc.,) are subject to federal rather than provincial employment standards legislation. The Canada Labour Code provides protection to these employees from “unjust dismissal.” This protection is only available to employees with more than one year of service – who are not excluded because of their managerial status.

Employees dismissed by federally regulated employers MUST file unjust dismissal complaints WITHIN 90 DAYS of the date of dismissal. Dismissed employees may even ask to be returned to their old jobs under this legislation.

Filing An Unjust Dismissal Complaint

The federal government provides detailed information on the unjust dismissal process at its web site:

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/employment_standards/publications/complaint_unjust.shtml

Both employers and employees often prefer to be represented by knowledgeable counsel at mediations and unjust dismissal hearings under the Canada Labour Code. The damages awarded can sometimes be more significant than those awarded in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, since dismissed employees may be compensated for the loss of a job and for the dismissal itself. Dismissed employees can be awarded legal fees to compensate for lawyer costs that they have incurred. They can also be awarded general, aggravated and punitive damages by an adjudicator, those these types of awards are relatively rare.