The Employment Insurance Act provides temporary financial assistance to individuals who are off work and suffering loss of employment income. Eligible employees can avail themselves of the following employment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic:
Sickness Benefits
Where an employee is sick or in quarantine and they suffer a reduction in normal weekly earnings of at least 40%, they may be entitled to sickness benefits, provided they meet the eligibility requirements. Sickness benefits would provide employees with 55% of their average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum of $573 per week. On March 11, 2020, the federal government announced that it would be waiving the mandatory one-week waiting period to receive sickness benefits, as well as the requirement to provide a medical certificate to access the benefit. Employees who are off on sick leave should be issued an ROE coded “D – Illness or Injury”.
Emergency Care Benefits
On March 18, 2020, the federal government announced that it would be introducing a new benefit, called the Emergency Care Benefit, to provide income support to the following individuals:
- Workers, including the self-employed, who are quarantined or sick with COVID-19 but do not qualify for sickness benefits;
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- Workers, including the self-employed, who are taking care of a family member who is sick with COVID-19, but do not quality for sickness benefits; and
- Parents with children who require care or supervision due to school closures, and are unable to earn employment income, irrespective of whether they qualify for employment insurance or not.
This benefit would provide income support of up to $900 every other week, for up to 15 weeks. Application for the benefit will be available in April 2020 via the Canada Revenue Agency. It is unclear at time of writing how an employee’s ROE should be coded. We are currently recommending using code “D – Illness or Injury” and make a further note “COVID-19”.
Regular Benefits
Regular benefits are provided to individuals who lose their jobs through no fault of their own (e.g. in the case of a layoff or termination without cause) and remain out of work. These benefits provide individuals 55% of their average insurable weekly earnings, up to $573 per week. Individuals must meet the eligibility requirements to receive this benefit.
Caregiving Benefits
Caregiving Benefits could be extended to eligible individuals who are on a leave to care for a family member or someone considered to be like family who is ill, injured or needing end-of-life care. These benefits provide income support of up to 55% of earnings, to a maximum of $573 a week. They are to last up to 52 weeks following the date the person was certified by a doctor or nurse to be critically ill, injured, or in need of end-of-life care.
Work Sharing Program
The Work Sharing program was introduced by the federal government to help employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the employer’s control. The program allows eligible employers to temporarily reduce their employees’ work hours and share the available work amongst them. The employees participating in the program must agree to the reduction of their hours and to sharing work over a specified period of time. The maximum duration of the program is 76 weeks for businesses affected by COVID-19.
Work Sharing programs require written agreement between the employer and the affected employee. Should you need assistance with such agreements, please reach out to one of our team members.
Emergency Support Benefits
The federal government has indicated that they are introducing another benefit, called the Emergency Support Benefit, to provide additional support to workers who are not eligible for EI and who are facing unemployment. Details of that benefit have not yet been released. We will update you as soon as we have more information on this.
Conclusion
If you need legal advice about EI or an ROE, reach out to a lawyer at Turnpenney Milne LLP. We would be happy to assist you.