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{{DialREVIEWEDPLS | reviewer = [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-Aadvice/employment-Law Blurbstandards Jennifer Hagen], Employment Standards Branch|date= October 2017}} {{Dial-A-Law TOC|expanded = creditwork}}
Your employer says they have to lay you off or asks you to work fewer hours “until things pick up”. Learn your rights if you're temporarily laid off from work.
Your employer must prove they had the right to lay you off for one of these reasons. Even then, the law limits the length of the layoff. We explain this shortly.
Outside of the situations above, if your employer lets you go temporarily, you have the same rights as someone who gets fired without just cause. That means your employer must give you '''notice''' or '''severance pay'''. See our guidance on [[If You're Are Fired - : Wrongful Dismissal (Script No. 241)|if you are fired (no. 241)]].
===The law limits the length of any layoff===
If the layoff lasts more than 13 weeks in a 20-week period, it can no longer be called “temporary”. At that point, it’s as if you were fired without just cause on the first day of the layoff.
The 20-week period begins on the first day of the layoff. The 13-week period is exceeded on the first day of the 14th week of layoff. If your employer misses the deadline to recall you to work, you now have the same rights as someone who was fired without just cause. In particular, you have the right to notice, severance pay, or some combination of the two. See our guidance on [[If You're Are Fired - : Wrongful Dismissal (Script No. 241)|if you are fired]].
(Your employer can apply to Employment Standards BC to extend the 13-week period.)
If your contract doesn’t provide for temporary layoffs — and you don’t work in an industry where they’re standard practice — your employer can’t temporarily lay you off. It’s against the law. Let your employer know right away (in writing) that you don’t consent to being laid off.
If your employer follows through with the layoff, your rights are affected. You’re now being fired without just cause. (See our guidance on [[If You're Are Fired - : Wrongful Dismissal (Script No. 241)|if you are fired]].) That means you can start a claim against your employer to collect '''severance pay'''.
Download the [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/employment-business-and-economic-development/employment-standards-workplace-safety/employment-standards/self-help/self_help_kit.pdf self-help kit] from the BC [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards Employment Standards Branch]. It contains a step-by-step guide on how to bring a claim against your employer. It includes a request for payment form together with a letter you submit to your employer.
:Web: [http://www.esdc.gc.ca/ esdc.gc.ca]
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