Question regarding severance pay
 

My mom is being asked to quit her job because she hasn't been to work for three years due to illness/injuries. If they terminate her, is she entitled to severance pay and/or termination pay?

If terminated, she's entitled to nothing. If laid off then she can take severance then EI when that runs out.

Shouldn't she be looking into compo or disability by now?

Not necessarily true. I've fired people for being terrible at their job and had to pay them for months depending on how long they'd been employed... drove me crazy!

Call BC Employment Standard Branch

Employment Standards Branch, Ministry of Labour, Government of B.C.

It is free & they will give you the best answer.

Did she apply EI 3 years ago?

FailFish

If you mom voluntarily quits she gets nothing. If she wanted to quit she would have done that when she first got sick.

They can't ask her to quit but they can terminate her.

If she has a disability (ie: medical conditions) they MAY get in trouble for not accommodating her disability. (ie: employment standards & human rights).

For the record:
Severance pay applies to employees covered by the Canada Labour Code. Example:

Radio and television broadcasting;
Telecommunications;
Chartered Banks;
Airports and air transportation;
Shipping and navigation;
Interprovincial and international transportation (including trucking, rail and pipeline);
First Nations reserves;
The RCMP and the military; and
Federal government employees.

As workers employed in these industries fall outside provincial jurisdiction, provincial employment laws do not apply to them. In British Columbia, for instance, federally regulated employees are not protected by the Employment Standards Act, the Human Rights Code and the Labour Relations Code for unionized employees. Instead, federally regulated employees are entitled to the rights and protections afforded by the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Canada Labour Code.

In BC she would get pay in lieu of notice which maxes out at eight weeks. What comes into play after that is common law. Based on past court cases, age, sex, educational background, level of responsibility, length of employment, etc she would get a retiring allowance. http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facs...ermination.pdf

If she was entitled to benefits prior to going on sick leave, they must allow her to keep her benefits while she is off sick. If she quits, she forfits these benefits, which means her treatments including prescription drugs.

How has she been paid for the last 3 years? Long term disability?

EI for sickness terminates after 15 weeks and combined with regular EI to a maximum of 50 weeks in a 52 week period.

You can get fired and still be able to claim EI. It depends on why you got fired.

Lay off = shortage of work - does not apply

Do what Bender said and call Employment Standards BC.

I would suggest she speak to the head of her HR department too.. unless it was them who asked her to resign. If it were a branch manager or the like, HR might have an issue with the request considering her situation.

Termination/lay off requires severance pay unless you are terminated for a just cause like stealing, etc (Refer to the "Just Cause" factsheet on the Labour BC website)