WestJet is asking for an exemption to the section of the Canada Labour Code covering group terminations, designed to protect employees and prevent a flood of workers entering the labour market all at once.
WestJet is asking for an exemption to the section of the Canada Labour Code covering group terminations.
In a letter to federal Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, the airline says it finds itself in “unprecedented circumstances with regards to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent decline in air travel prompted by containment measures worldwide.”
WestJet says abiding by group termination provisions in the Labour Code would be “unduly prejudicial to the interests of the company’s employees and to the company, and are seriously detrimental to the operations of the company’s industrial establishments.”
The airline also said “measures are already in place to assist redundant employees which have substantially the same or the same effect” as the measures in the applicable section of the code.
Division IX of the Canada Labour Code is applicable if a federally regulated company plans to terminate more than 50 employees during a four-week period. Under those circumstances, certain provisions kick in designed to protect the employees and prevent a flood of people entering the labour market all at once.
Instead of the two weeks’ notice required for individuals, Division IX states employees who lose their job dur