Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles - Chapter 14
- 14.2.0 AUTHORITY AND DEFINITIONS
- 14.2.1 Teaching Defined
- 14.2.2 Non-Teaching Period Defined
- 14.2.3 Persons subject to disentitlement
14.2.0 Authority and Definitions
The Act provides for the making of regulations limiting entitlement to benefits1. As such, EIR 33 provides that a person employed in teaching is not entitled to receive benefits, other than maternity, parental or compassionate care benefits, for any week of unemployment that falls within any non-teaching period unless the exempting conditions are met2.
[ January 2006 ]
14.2.1 Teaching Defined
Teaching is defined by Regulation1 as the occupation of teaching in a preelementary, elementary or secondary school, including technical or vocational schools. Therefore, anyone who teaches at those levels or schools — regardless of the time spent in teaching, the subject, or the individuals being taught, is considered a teacher for the purposes of the Regulation.
This definition applies to all teachers employed in schools under provincial or municipal boards and includes teachers in independent or private schools. Teaching at the post secondary or university levels does not fall within the definition of a teacher as per the Regulation. Although they are teachers, they do not fall under the provisions of EIR 33. Instead, they are subject to the same rules as any other claimant2.
Other school board employees, although part of the education systems, are not subject to this Regulation because they are not in the "occupation of teaching". Without being exhaustive, the list could include administrative and clerical staff, maintenance technicians, caregivers in a daycare, school bus drivers, teachers' assistants3, and also school principals so long as they are not teaching.
- EIR 33(1);
- P. Frenette (A-951-90, CUB 18718); G. Sylvain (A-769-90, CUB 18566);
- S. Sepinwall (A-961-87, CUB 14181).
14.2.2 Non-Teaching Period Defined
The non-teaching period is defined as the period that occurs annually, at regular or irregular intervals, during which no work is performed by a significant number of people engaged in teaching1. Generally, a school year is comprised of teaching from September through June with July and August as the primary non-teaching period. Within the teaching period of September to June, the nonteaching periods are generally the Christmas break and the mid-winter or spring break.
A disentitlement under this Regulation would apply to non teaching periods only. Other section of the Act would apply to claimant's entitlement to benefits during teaching periods. For the policy relating to periods outside of the non-teaching period, please refer to the Digest Chapter 42 Week of Unemployment and Digest Chapter 103 Availability.
A statutory holiday is not in itself a non-teaching period. However, a statutory holiday that falls within a non-teaching period will be included and considered as part of the non-teaching period. For example, Good Friday and Easter Monday are statutory holidays that become part of the non-teaching period when the spring break or recess includes them.
The provisions of the regulation must therefore be applied to the periods during which no work is performed by a significant number of teachers. The non-teaching periods may vary among provinces and may even vary from one school to another within a region, a province, a school board, or a district.
For example, a private school may not have its spring breaks at the same time as the public school in the same area. However, the spring break for the private school is still considered a non-teaching period.
The test is whether it can be determined that a significant number of the claimant’s teacher colleagues are not at work during the period. The criterion will not be satisfied where there is no noticeable difference in the number of people teaching between one period of the year and all the others.
Where year-round schooling exists, it is usually divided into four instructional periods of roughly equal duration, separated by breaks. The breaks between the instructional periods are the non-teaching periods for teachers working on a year-round schooling calendar.
[ June 2005 ]
14.2.3 Persons subject to disentitlement
Any person who requests benefits and who was employed in teaching for any part of their qualifying period and who is under a contract of employment for teaching during their benefit period is subject to a disentitlement1.
[ June 2008 ]