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what can i do weekender october 17 1987 p5 firms rumored closure a concern dear amanda im panicstricken for some months there have been rumors that my employer is planning on closing down operations in ontario at first i wrote them off as gos sip perhaps it was wishful think ing recently things have been happening that make me think theres some truth to the rumors a committee of employees has approached management but ail we got is a lot of vague statements and a promise that an announce ment will be made at the proper time i started working for this com pany right after graduation and ive been here 21 years i have a family a mortgage commit ments my wife hasnt slept for two weeks and is urging me to do something i dont know what what are my rights here what kind of notice do they have to give work watch cfnianda lo ay me am i automatically entitled to severance pay and what should i be doing dear panicstricken i agree that a promise of an announcement pending sounds ominous youre right to gather facts and do some planning in case the worst happens but dont jump to conclusions any employee who has been employed for 10 years or more is entitled to eight weeks notice of termination if your employer doesnt give you the required notice he must pay in lieu of notice and maintain your fringe benefits for the notice period you should also receive any vacation pay to which you are entitled severance pay is payable where 50 or more employees are terminated in six months or less due to a permanent closing of all or part of a business employees with five or more years of employment are entitled to one weeks pay for each year of employment to a maximum of 26 weeks pay this is an addition to any right you have to notice of termination or pay in lieu of notice obviously youre going to have some lead time and some finan cial backing to cushion the blow and allow you to look for another job it makes sense to start put ting out feelersas soon as possible some steps you can take right now are dstart checking newspaper ads to find out where the vacancies are in your line of work knowing the market and current pay rates your company may or may not be typical will be im portant densure that your skills are up- todate does your present com pany use the latest equipment and technology if not contact your nearest community col lege for advice on updating your skills to ensure your competi tiveness dtell any discreet friends and re latives in related businesses that you may be on the market shortly never underestimate personal contacts as a source of job leads dput together a resume and pass it along to government and pri vate agencies in the job finding business usually when a company closes down a number of experts from both the public and private sector are brought in to ease the employees transition to other work make use of them its frightening to anticipate a job change after 21 years but youll have plenty of support and if you start taking steps right now youll be ahead of the game thats my advice i hope you dont have to use it anyone with workrelated ques tions is welcome to write to aman da day at the weekender 9 herit age rd markham l3p 1m3 ms day has years of training in the employment counselling field you neednt identify yourself v