Hello. Our HR Dept called a meeting to the Canadian team and advised us that they are no longer providing Personal Days. We accrued 6 personal days a year and now they are taking them away permanently.

The company advised me when I first started that personal days, vacation days and sick days would roll over year after year if not used.

So now they have given us will the end of the year to use our carried over sick days and current year sick days.

My main concern: can the company just take away our Personal Days that we've been given - it feels like it's part of our benefits even though it's not in my offer letter.

I am sorry to hear about the loss of the personal days. This is unfortunately a common issue that many employees face when dealing with these types of benefits and allowances.

Personal days are part of your overall compensation package, and the company cannot unilaterally remove them. It is the same as if the company suddenly reduced your salary by the equivalent of 6 working days.

Generally, if an employer unilaterally makes substantial changes to the terms of employment, including reducing or removing aspects of compensation, that would be considered a constructive dismissal.

However, not all changes are considered substantial, and depending on the terms of the employment contract and company policies, the fact the employer removed an entitlement may not be legally considered a change in the terms of employment. The legal test for constructive dismissals can be complex.

The problem that you, and many other employees in similar situations face is whether or not this reduction is substantial enough to warrant resigning and bringing a claim for constructive dismissal.

This is something that we can help you understand and determine what the best next steps would be. Contact us today, and our intake team will guide you through the process.