Trudeau Liberals extend timeframe for employers to reinstate workers laid-off due to coronavirus

The Trudeau administration is giving employers additional time to recall their former employees who were laid off at the beginning of the pandemic. The time period for temporary layoffs has been extended up to six months, according to CTV News.

Employees who were laid off prior to March 31 will have up until December 30th to reacquire their old staff.

“We know that many employers who have had to temporarily lay off employees intend to bring them back to work. However, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding exactly when that will be possible,” said Labour Minister Filomena Tassi in a statement.

For employees who were laid off between March 31 and September 30, their employer will also have up until December 30 to reinstate them back to work unless their layoff notice had a later recall date.

The extension came into effect on June 22 and applies to the federally-regulated private sector however it will have zero impact on any new layoff that take place after September 30.

An employee would be deemed terminated should their temporary layoff notice have expired prior to their employer bringing them back to work. Employees who had been laid off in March or April as a result of the pandemic would be facing termination soon as they approached the deadline to return to work if not for the new extension.

If a layoff becomes a termination of employment, the employee may become eligible for vacation pay and a severance package which many employers cannot afford to do at this time, nor would they want to if their plan was to reinstate their employee after the pandemic concluded.