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Information on EI for employees being affected by the coronavirus

The Government of Canada has announced a number of measures to support Canadians against the Coronavirus impacts. The purpose of this post is to provide more details regarding our new EI measures as I have been receiving a number of request for Information.

1. Waiving the EI Sickness Benefits Waiting Period

The one week waiting period will be waived for EI sickness benefits claimants for whom a period of quarantine is imposed when the quarantine is:

• Imposed on the claimant under the laws of Canada or a province
• Imposed on the claimant by a public health official for the health and safety of the public at large, or
• Recommended by such an official for health and safety of the public at large, and the claimant was asked by their employer, medical doctor, a nurse or a person in authority to place themselves under quarantine.
• The term quarantine is intended to be broad and include individuals who are in self-isolation on the recommendation of a public health official, their employer, medical doctor, a nurse or a person in authority.
• For more details on eligibility criteria, visit: Canada.ca.

Service Canada has also dedicated a new toll free phone number for Canadians under quarantine and seeking to waive the waiting period. The number is 1-833-381-2725.

2. Temporary special Work-Sharing measures

Work-Sharing (WS) is an adjustment program designed to help employees and employers avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer. The measure provides income support to employees eligible for Employment Insurance benefits who work a temporarily reduced work week while their employer recovers. Work-Sharing is a three-party agreement involving employers, employees and Service Canada. Employees on a Work-Sharing agreement must agree to a reduced schedule of work and to share the available work over a specified period of time.

As part of our efforts to help employees and employers affected directly and indirectly by COVID-19, we are implementing the following changes to the Work-Sharing Program that will last for one year:

• Doubling the length of agreements from up to 38 weeks to 76 weeks;
• Increasing flexibility for the mandatory employer recovery plan; and
• Eliminating the cool off period between agreements so that employers with recently expired agreements can start subsequent ones sooner.

Employers are instructed to submit their completed applications by mail to their local Service Canada Centre<http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/tbsc-fsco/sc-hme.jsp?lang=eng>. For more information on Work-Sharing Agreements, please visit the Government of Canada’s website<https://www.canada.ca/…/servi…/work-sharing/eligibility.html>.