Laid off? Know your legal rights

is there any difference between public and private sector related to severance payments and legal rights?

If you are not part of a union, then the common law applies, which provides you with severance based on the concept of "reasonable notice"...

Are there specific amounts due to employees for severance in addition to pay in lieu of notice?

pay in lieu of notice is pay in place of working notice and it is a form of "severance." It is a payment provided to the employee upon termination...

However, the total package is based on what is an appropriate payment for the employee, having regard to his/her tenure, age, position and job prospects. This amount is almost always more than what the legislation provides.

It's defined by a famous court case called "Bardal v. Globe and Mail" (ironically enough). The test says we must consider an employee's age, tenure, position and reemployability. In short, it is not defined anywhere but based on a court's perception of what is fair having regard to these factors.

Good question. Overtime is set by provincial legislation or for federal regulated employers, by federal legislation....

managers and professionals, for example, are exempted from the overtime requirements meaning they can work longer than 44 hours in a week without additional overtime pay.

Yes and no. If the termination was truly unrelated to the leave, and was part of a legitimate restructuring, then it can transpire despite the fact the employee was on leave. However, this raises some additional obligations upon employers to prove that the termination was not because of the leave.

How does seniority in a non union situation affect being laid off? I lost my job due to poor management on my boss' end, but he had hired a new employee not three weeks before I was laid off.