Employment Insurance (EI) provides unemployed workers temporary income while they look for new employment. It also provides special benefits to workers on certain approved leaves.
The most common type of EI is regular benefits. To qualify, a worker must be out of work through no fault of their own such as being laid off, terminated without cause, or resigning with just cause. The worker must have paid EI premiums in the last year and worked an adequate number of insurable hours.
EI regular benefits will pay 55 per cent of the worker’s average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount which is currently $668 per week. While in receipt of regular benefits a worker is required to conduct a reasonable job search and be available for suitable employment. The benefits can last up to 45 weeks.
Sometimes an employer will falsely claim to terminate a worker for misconduct and code the Record of Employment accordingly. That usually results in the worker being denied benefits.
If a workeris unfairly denied benefits, they can submit a request for reconsideration. This will provide the worker an opportunity to tell their story to an independent government official who can reverse the decision and grant benefits.
Employers do not decide who receives benefits.
If a worker has good reason to quit their employment, they may still qualify for regular benefits. For example, if a worker is enduring serious workplace harassment, they may have “just cause” to resign. Sometimes a worker may quit a job and accept another job only to have the new job offer rescinded. If that happens the worker still may qualify for benefits.
EI sickness benefits are for workers that are temporarily unable to work for medical reasons. These benefits only last 15 weeks. A worker must get a medical certificate to show that they are unable to work due to injury, quarantine, or illness, including mental health illness.
There are also approved leaves that allow a worker to qualify for EI. These include pregnancy, caring for a newborn or newly adopted child, caring for a critically ill or injured person, or caring for a family member who is seriously ill with a significant risk of death. In those circumstances, the qualifying conditions and duration of the benefits are different than regular or sickness benefits.
Workers may be assessed overpayments by EI for various reasons, including inadvertently failing to report earned income while in receipt of benefits. The increased complications caused by short-term income support programs related to the pandemic may result in more overpayment assessments in the future.
Workers should seek legal advice if they think they have been unfairly denied EI benefits or wrongly assessed an overpayment.
At CKLC, we provide Employment Insurance advice and representation. If your case has merit and your family income is low, then the legal clinic may be able to represent you. If your family income is not low enough to qualify for our services, we will refer you to the private bar.
Travis McKay, CKLC Employment Law Lawyer (www.cklc.ca, 519-351-6771)
