How often do you think all employees at a company have chosen to simultaneously challenge their pay?
And how often do you think companies have penalised employees they consider difficult?
Not often and very often respectively.
Also, if you get unfairly dismissed because you complained about breaking the law, it's wrongful termination plus unemployment benefits as well. Even without the email I have, I don't think a wrongful termination lawsuit will be too difficult.
I don't think you realize just how much effort is put into making an employee's dismissal seem legitimate when in the background it's not. Being dismissed for seemingly minor things (like coming in 5 minutes late maybe once or twice), "layoffs" of staff, cutting an employee's hours back until they can no longer sustain being there...
Here's a few examples I went through myself.
I can distinctly remember back when I was younger (early 20's) and I did a stupid thing that I think got my employer in trouble with another business. It was totally my fault, I did something without management's approval that I didn't think would be a problem. They had a meeting with me later that week and told me I shouldn't have done what I did, but that was where it was left. They didn't fire me for that. Oh so conveniently not even 2 months later I was laid off because they said they didn't need as many employees. I was the only employee laid off.
I thought little of it at first, but looking back... I highly doubt I was laid off merely because of a lack of employee need. Not when it was timed so closely with what I did. I don't have proof of it, I'm only basing it off of a convenient time frame. By the time I realized the lay-off was potentially suspect it was way, way too late to file a complaint and I'll never know.
At one of my next jobs I was doing a 4-5 week build of a new business, working with a crew of a few dozen to put up all the shelves following papers with guidelines on how they're supposed to be arranged. I was struggling big time, much of it because of my learning disability difficulties. I wasn't aware it'd be so much of a problem until I got the job. I let my supervisor and manager know of my challenges to a higher degree than I did initially and asked that we try to work together to ensure that I may be as good of an employee for them as I could be. They said they'd do their best and would follow up with me.
Come early the next week I was pulled into a meeting and was told that I was being laid off. They told me that things weren't working out and that I was no longer needed. I specifically remember them saying
laid off, not
fired. I took that at face value and left. It was only until I looked back years later and realized it was absolutely a firing and should've been said as such, but considering they never heard from me again, they knew I wouldn't know better and just went on with their lives like I did with mine.
Lastly... this time I got smart.
I was at another job after the previous, maybe 6 months down the line, and once again I was laid off, seemingly for little reason. I thought back at the moment of and realized maybe I was getting on the nerves of my boss and some employees, but that was simply because I still had some growing up to do. I got the job done on schedule regardless and without much difficulty. So I asked my boss... "Am I being fired, or am I being laid off?" He told me I was being laid off due to staff cutbacks. ... I was the second person there that did the job I did, so cutting me out meant pulling other people away from their jobs to fill the gap for the whole week. That would be a VERY stupid idea.
I had then asked him if I was to be compensated for the short layoff period since he was laying me off right then and there without 1-2 weeks notice. He said no, I was not eligible for compensation. Considering the last 2 times this happened, internally I called bullshit. I left and the next day I called my local government's employment sector to get advice. I explained the exact situation as it was said to me down to the word, and they told me "He absolutely should have given you 1-2 weeks notice, and since he's not, you should be paid for the equivalent hours you would have worked based on your regular schedule."
The next day I walked in and told him I called the provincial government and said I was to be compensated for that time he had me scheduled before laying me off. He didn't argue, he didn't question it, he didn't skip a beat before saying "Ok, I'll have your pay here in the office in 2 weeks." I went back 2 weeks later and got my check.
He absolutely knew I was supposed to be paid that, but he told me no to my face and expected me to believe it. I have no doubt he would have investigated on his part to determine if that was true to make sure he wasn't giving me money
he was to supposed be keeping if he wasn't aware of what he was doing. The fact he didn't even hesitate before agreeing with what I told him was telling.
In hindsight I could've and should've pursued further action. But again, I was young, I didn't know how far all of that extended, and I just wanted to get a new job since I couldn't afford a lawyer. But that was the first time I was aware of my employee's rights and made use of them. Ever since then I have made sure to be much more keenly aware of my rights.
These are 3 of the most obvious examples of what looked like wrongful dismissal I can think of. I am willing to bet there were more that were masked a little better than these. But this is what happens sometimes. This is why this isn't so clear cut. Not everyone is aware of their rights, and employers can and will exploit that fact for their own benefit, whether it's right to their face, or in ways that look legitimate and hard to question
