Corporate restructuring in the private sector usually entails job cuts and often increased demands on the “unaffected” employees. However for those lucky enough to work for the Ontario Ministry of Revenue restructuring comes with up to $45,000 in severance fees. And that is for the people who are not losing their jobs.
The upcoming harmonization of the federal and provincial sales taxes into the new HST means that over 1,000 workers who are currently employed by the provincial government will now be employed by the federal government. They will doing the same duties they were previously doing, working from the same desks with little other than the letterhead and the signature on their cheques changing. Yet since technically they are losing their provincial jobs, they will be eligible to collect severance pay, despite the fact that they are not actually losing their jobs.
The premier (who could find no money to pay for the education of religious minorities in this province) notes that spending millions for the affected employees is the law, even though apparently the law can be amended to avoid such a payout. While amending the law mid term is generally unfair (the only time this government did so was to retroactively rescinded the tax credit for private schools, after parents had already paid tuition) this is surely an exceptional case.
I am reminded of the rabbinic teaching that Jerusalem was destroyed because people insisted on the strict application of the law, unwilling to act according to the intent of the law. Unfortunately with government deficits in the billions of dollars very little attention is paid to the mere waste of millions. Such indifference and unaccountability for public monies is another moral causality of a bloated government. Our sages were especially harsh on those who misappropriate public funds as rectifying such is next to impossible. Allowing “fired” workers to claim severance and at the same time keep their jobs is akin to a school firing its teachers each June and rehiring them in September, allowing the teachers to collect employment insurance during the summer. We would rightfully be aghast at such a devious ploy, and if not technically illegal we would demand the law be amended to prevent this form of trickery.
While we expect and demand that contracts be kept, whether signed or just in the form of an oral agreement, Jewish law recognizes that contracts can be rendered null and void by unforeseen circumstances. While, for example, a contractor can be sued for not completing the agreed upon task, if they have to attend to a sick child no penalty can be assessed for non-performance. Furthermore an employer who fires an employee can only be sued for lost wages (i.e. severance) if the employee can not find another job. If another job is available, even under slightly different conditions, the claim is dismissed. Similarly most western jurisdictions disallow the collection of unemployment benefits if another job is readily available.
While it would be unrealistic to expect employees to refuse the money, we should not lose sight of the ideal and strive if possible to employ public servants who would return monies they did not properly earn. In this vein it was refreshing, and I must admit quite surprising, to hear of the plan of the Olympic hockey team to donate their $20,000 bonus payable to all Canadian gold medal winners. While these multi millionaires have little need for this pocket change, they did rightfully earn it.
Money has the ability to bring out the best and the worst in people. It is sad to see public money wasted in such a fashion. It is even sadder that apparently few care enough to do something about it.
Comments to rabbijay@torahinmotion.org
