JonboyE

People need to realize that employment law and hiring and firing culture in North America is completely different to Europe.

In North America employers hire at will, and fire at will. There is no employment protection legislation other than anti-discrimination laws. Two weeks notice is the best you can expect, if you are lucky.

You can look on this difference as good or bad. For example, in the UK I would hang on till the last possible moment before hiring new people because I knew it could be so difficult and expensive to let them go when work eased off a bit. This wasn't good for the existing staff who had to work harder, it meant that someone wasn't getting the chance of a job where they could prove themselves, and it meant the company did not grow as quickly as it otherwise would have done.

I saw many examples of small companies continuing to employ people who were incompetent or had lost all interest in their job, simply because they could not afford to sack them.

In Canada, if you need a worker you hire a worker. If you don't need them anymore it is, "Thanks for your help, see you next time." You might say that this sucks, especially for a temporary foreign worker, but it is ONLY because employment works this way that employers are willing to take the risk of giving foreign workers (and new immigrants) the opportunity of work. They certainly would not do it is they could end up being saddled paying for a one or two year contract when their own business had dried up.

Piff Poff

We were also a couple that came over on a TWP, we had already put our PR application in before we came - We put all our eggs in one basket on the HOPE that we would become PR's. We came over in 2005 and Alberta was booming, you could walk out of a job at 10am and be in a new one by 10:15am - probably for more money and better benefits. By 2007 when we got our PR and heaved a huge sigh of relief that we no longer had to worry that our application would be refused, things had started to slow down. For anyone comming now on a TWP I would be very cautious of where you put your eggs. It's worrying enough on a TWP in boomtime let alone in a recession - although that is showing signs locally of dissapearing, houses are starting to sell really quickly again which is nice to see.

As many people have said a TWP is just that, there is no guarantee that it will be extended, there is no guarantee that PR status will be obtained. I feel for Salemainces family, I really do and have offered some possible employment leads - I hope something gets sorted out but with just three weeks left on a TWP, I fear things may be a little late?????

Aviator

As has been mentioned in other threads - Read the employment standards legislation in the province you are going to. This will tell you what you are and are not entitled to and indicate the risks.

Remember Temporary is just that and a 3 yr WP is not a guarantee of 3 years of work. If there is a written contract read the terms and get a lawyer to look it over. How demanding you can be depends on how much they need you vs you need them.

Then assess the risks and your risk threshold. Nobody is owed a living. BA are getting staff to take unpaid time off, BT are doing something similar.

If the company goes down, everyone loses.

ExKiwilass

It's not just a Canadian thing. I was just reading in the NZ news online that temporary workers there have been laid off and have fallen on hard times, as they have no right to social benefits. They're expected to leave and go back to their own countries.

I dunno. I do have sympathy for the OP, but at the same time, I'm frustrated by their lack of foresight in coming out on a TWP, that something like this might happen, not having a back-up plan etc. Blaming it on Canada is unfair imo. No one forced them to do it.

Though dingbat's story is appalling.

Posidrive

But a least it makes you resident for 3 years which is enough time so sort out a Candian Experience based PR application and you can't be kicked out of Canada unless you do something stupid. As least if people have the financial backup to hold out.

One of the issues is not so much the employer no longer needs you attitude as much as the "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish" attitude of the Canadian immigration authorites. If a TWP was issued then Canada needed the individual. There should be some better protection mechansim for those who has demonstrated that they were attempting to set down roots other than "piss off within 90 days". The very fact that they were given a TWP (for a skilled profession) indicates that the skill should be in demand again once this monetery blip is over. This short sighted attitude could leave Canada with at the very least a short term disadvantage once the recession ends.

ExKiwilass

Maybe. maybe not.

They needed that individual temporarily. I think the better protection is provided for by PR. I'm asking seriously...if you (general you) want to put roots down here, why wouldn't you go for PR? Obviously the TWP isn't meant for that, but to fill labour shortages for Canada.

Posidrive

When we came, the TWP route got us here within 2 months and as I have mentioned in other posts the employer promised to help with PR via a PNP application that in theory could of had us done and dusted with about a year. At that time a standard skilled work PR application was taking at least 3 years.

ExKiwilass

Okay, so the TWP-PNP route was faster. You knew it was a risk, though, right? If you (general you) goes the TWP route you're taking a risk and as another poster said, you should have a back up plan/be prepared for it to fall through. That's all I"m saying. If you want to have a right to stay, you need to get PR.

Posidrive

I'm sure that everyone knows the risk before they come out on a TWP. I'm sure that the OP was just looking for a little moral support (not really surpsising) but instead were attacked by the holier than thou "We had to come through the normal PR route, so why didn't you?" brigade.

Laying someone off 3 weeks before the expiry date of a TWP that was in the process of being renewed is the act of a gutter rat. A human being would have waited the 3 weeks so that the employee would have the option to legally stay on the renewed TWP and at least have the chance to find another job. End of discussion.

Steve_P

On May 16th th OP started another thread and announced her husband had just been layed off and at that time stated they had three months left on his work permit.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=609431

So as unfortunate as it is the company did not lay him off with only three weeks left on his TWP. Based or her original post they have until the middle of August to sort something out, not the third week in July.

Which is correct?

We really have no idea but obviously we don't have the whole story only what she chooses to tell us, and at the moment it doesn't add up..

Also the OP did get a lot of support from a number of folks but by making the absolutely asinine comment "I'm a british citizen and Canada is still ruled under the Queen yet we're still going through hell" she threw away a whole lot of the support that she had up until that point.

G77

Nice detective work Steve

I'm aware of the risks of a TWP, being here on one ourselves, keeps me awake at night sometimes..... I do hope the OP gets it sorted out, regardless of what the truth may be. The thought of returning to the UK horrifies me and I'm praying our PR goes through smoothly! (My backup plan is to go to the US )

The4BellsLondon

ahem I posted that thread earlier but n one seemed to notice

Alan2005

Why should a private company do that - it isn't a charity.

dingbat

I did....

The4BellsLondon

I thank you missus!!