New employment insurance rules in force

Ottawa — The unemployment insurance scheme is set for another round of pandemic-related changes that will take effect on Sunday, September 26th. Here are some of the key changes that will apply to new claims for benefits starting on Sunday:

Eligibility

EI applicants must work a minimum of hours to qualify for benefits. In the past, that number was about 600 hours, but that number varied in different parts of the country based on local labor market conditions.

Many workers cut their time during the pandemic, which means they may not have worked enough time to qualify.

Last year, all new EI applicants received a one-time surcharge to help them qualify, which will disappear on Sunday. Instead, there is a unified requirement of working 420 hours.

The uniform time requirement applies for one year until September 24, 2022.

The government is also requesting a new medical certificate certifying that the applicant is ill and unable to work to receive benefits for EI illness. Due to COVID-19, this requirement was temporarily exempted last year.

advantage

The weekly minimum benefit amount will be reduced from $ 500 to $ 300, depending on the value of the payment under the Canada Recovery Benefit available to non-EI qualified persons.

Weekly floors will apply for billing from September 26th to November 20th.

The duration and value of benefits will be recalculated using the regional unemployment rate, which was temporarily replaced by a flat unemployment rate of 13.1% last year.

EI staff will also use simplified rules regarding retirement and vacation allowances, so claimants should be able to begin receiving benefits sooner. Payments can delay the start and value of benefits.

However, after the waiver of last year’s waiting period, there will be another week’s waiting before the new EI claim benefits flow.

Stay the same

Anyone with an existing EI claim will not see any change in the value or duration of profits due to these new rules.

Similarly, seasonal workers in 13 regions are eligible for an additional 5 weeks of EI regular allowance until October 2022.

The pilot project will provide an additional week for seasonal workers who have begun billing between August 5, 2018 and October 30, 2018. same period.

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