Hundreds of former employees of IQT Solutions are trying to figure out how to get back pay and employment insurance after they were suddenly laid off on Friday.
At the end of the business week the employees in Laval and Trois-Rivieres were told that the company was shutting down.
"We're not even sure we're going to get anything," ex-employee Nancy Hajarn told CTV Montreal on Monday.
That has left 1,200 people in the lurch, wondering if they will be paid for their final two weeks of service, and how to apply for government assistance.
Legally, IQT Solutions has seven days to provide its former employees with their termination papers so they can file for employment insurance.
But for some employees living paycheque to paycheque, that delay is tough to handle.
On Monday many former employees met at the company's Laval offices and passed a hat to take up a collection for those less fortunate.
Ex-workers like Hajarn then went to the nearest EI office to find out what could be done.
They were disappointed to learn that even after filing a complaint, a legal and fiscal solution could be a long time coming.
"When I talk to them they told us that with the complaint paper that we have right here the only thing they're going to do is file a big complaint," said Hajarn.
"It could take three or four months before we get any more money."
But there is a bright light for the workers. There are many other call centres in the Montreal region, and over the weekend some of them reached out to the laid-off employees and said they may have openings.
