A recent Quebec Superior Court ruling may leave the provincial government on the hook for millions of dollars in unpaid severance.
In 2015, a then-new provincial regulation was implemented that sought to reduce the severance packages of public employees.
That rule was expected to save the Quebec government a significant amount of public funds.
Late last week that rule was rejected by a Quebec Superior Court justice.
The government regulation came into effect just before Bill 10’s major healthcare reforms, which cut employee severance payments in half from 24 months to 12 months.
Along the way, health reforms eliminated about 38-hundred jobs, including managers and senior executives, as hospitals and clinics implemented painful mergers.
The Court ruled that the province’s updated severance regulation went forward without appropriate consultations.
The Association of health care managers calls it a victory, but Health Minister Gaétan Barrette said in a statement that his ministry will “analyze” the $200-million ruling.
The Couillard government has a thirty day window to decide if it will appeal the Court’s decision.