Did you really expect a severance package for a minimum wage job as a teenager or were you just being cheeky? It's a sincere question. Here in Canada at that age and wage-band I wouldn't even have considered the possibility.
Good point. At the time I think I wasn't aware of the actual law, and because he'd done a good job of keeping it quiet until that moment, we were all in the room and got the news all at once so hadn't had a chance to look it up. Mainly I think I just had a feeling that he was screwing us over somehow and so asked all the awkward questions I knew he didn't want to hear. I particularly took offence to having to look at his NEW car outside the window as he delivered the news.
This was 20 years ago though (man, that's depressing!) and nowadays I would have spotted the warning signs a long way off and planned my exit strategy / final negotiations much better.
I still think he was screwing us over, though. And I still think he was a cunt :)
That's the sad part about layoffs: Until your 30ies, not only you get screwed over but the experienced ones are long gone and aren't part of the battle [1].
[1] battle or discussion, depending on whether you need the job.
I'm pretty sure most provinces in Canada have mandatory severance after a certain number of months of service. The mandatory part isn't tied to age, just the option parts covered by common law.
