One of the most commonly misunderstood concepts when getting terminated from a job in Canada is the term “wrongful dismissal”. Most people automatically assume that this means that there were no grounds for termination and that you were illegally terminated based on the Employment Standards Act, ESA. The law is quite specific as to what constitutes legal dismissal in Canada, but wrongful dismissal is actually based on something altogether different.
In effect, wrongful dismissal is the area surrounding severance pay and whether or not you were justly compensated based on law or your employment contract.
Initial Steps to Take Prior to Reputation Repair.
If you feel you have been wrongfully dismissed from your job, you may be suffering the financial consequences and in need of legal assistance. For example, if you were terminated anywhere in the province of Ontario, you could consult with an employment lawyer Toronto who is licensed to serve the entire province.
This specialist in the field of employment law will first seek to determine if your termination was legal and if not, they will take on your case to see that you receive the just compensation you are entitled to. Obviously, it takes money to live and although that termination could have a huge impact on your professional reputation, the bills need to be paid and you need to eat while you are out there pounding the pavement.
Be Mindful of How You Handle Social Posts.
One of the things you’ll find is that today’s employer is going to be socially savvy. This means that most will have HR screening your social profiles to give them a glance at the real you. While the decision is always going to be yours, you will almost always want to list that company you just got fired from. It’s essential to show continuity of employment within your field. In vetting candidates for a job, HR looks at the public personality on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
You’d be surprised at just how many people lose out on jobs they’d applied for because of their social posts. If you are seeking to repair your reputation in the professional realm, avoid making negative comments about your previous employer on your social pages. That can, and often will, work against you when searching for a new position.
Consult with a Reputation Marketing Pro.
Finally, if your dismissal has found a place of prominence on Google searches, you might want to consult with a reputation management marketing pro. Bear in mind that nine out of ten times employers will search the internet when reviewing applications and CVs. If you are unfortunate enough to have created a buzz within your profession and have been unfairly terminated and ostracized in your profession, it’s time to proactively seek to repair your reputation.
While being unfairly terminated and wrongfully terminated are really two different things, they often intersect, and this is why you would want to focus on regaining the respect you deserve. The damage has been done but these tips can help you mitigate the impact going forward.
