Canadian Employer delays joining date in formal offer letter > 8 months

[vijay.chandru.4unme]

Hello Guys,
This is Vijay from India.
Received an offer letter in May 2014 from a reputed IT Company in Canada with joining date as Jan 2015 (for Canada location).
They processed my VISA and I have received VISA in my hands.
But they are continuously delaying my joining till date saying that currently they are not having work/requirement from their clients.
Please suggest on how should I now proceed in this situation..

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately there isn't much you can do. How soon you join is ultimately up to the company that has hired you.

If you are unhappy with your experiences with this company, you can certainly look for a job with another employer. Note that to work for a different employer, you will need a new job offer, new LMIA and new work permit.

Good luck.

 

[vijay.chandru.4unme]

Thanks scylla!!

How come the Employer is breaking the joining date mentioned/committed in the formal Offer letter?
Isn't there any law enforced to keep up the commitments in agreement/formal offer letter?

 

[Leon]

I don't know if it is legal for them not to uphold the contract joining date. However, regardless of your contract, you always have a 3 month probation period in Canada during which they can let you go for any reason so if you were to try to force them to uphold the joining date, they can simply let you join earlier but lay you off after 1 day of work and they don't even have to tell you why.

Aside from that, in many provinces, it is legal to send people home without pay if there is no work so that is the other thing they could do, simply let you join and then lay you off on a temporary basis until they have work again.

Third, they can in any case lay people off even after their probation period if they don't have enough work but then they'd have to pay them their notice.

So if you are laid off in Canada on a temporary work permit, you know your permit is only good for this company. You may stay in Canada until the expiry of your permit but before you can take a new job, you need a new LMIA and a new permit. As a temporary worker, you will probably not get EI based on that you are not able to take any job that comes along due to your work permit issues as well as you would not get EI anyway unless you have worked long enough to be eligible.