Employment Insurance Regulations - Amendments

The following information is out of date.

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Description

Section 26.1 will establish a Regulation providing as of 27 June 1999 exemption from making periodic claims for benefits (which are customarily required to be made every two weeks by way of a form called the Claimant's Report).

Exemption from making periodic claims for benefits will be done on the basis of the same application parameters as those of Pilot Project No. 1, which will end on June 26, 1999.

Section 26.1 will apply to all claimants who make an initial or renewal claim for benefits and are entitled to maternity, parental or apprenticeship training benefits.

For the duration of their eligibility for these benefits, the claimants will receive the usual periodic benefits, but without having to complete the report cards.

Claimants who are not required to make periodic claims for benefits shall complete a certification form provided by the Commission. By completing this form, claimants acknowledge their responsibility to notify their local EI office of any situation of non-entitlement to benefits that may arise and of any earnings that could be deducted from benefits during the period of eligibility to these benefits.

Alternatives

No alternative has been envisaged because the application parameters for exemption from making periodic claims for benefits that were evaluated in the two pilot projects set up in that regard make it possible to offer better service to our clients who are claiming maternity, parental or apprenticeship training benefits, and to reduce annual operating costs without engendering fraud or abuse.

Benefits and Costs

We have found that the pilot projects set up to verify the effectiveness of exemption from making periodic claims for benefits have made it possible to save time and postal costs, and to reduce paperwork for both the Employment Insurance administration and its clientele.

Making this initiative permanent will guarantee maintenance of a more rapid benefit payment service for approximately 182,000 claimants annually.

This will also make it possible to realise savings of more than one million dollars per year by limiting the number of enquiries and rejections of report cards, and by reducing postal costs and the time spent on computer processing, visual sorting and coding.

Consultation

This Regulation has been prepared by Insurance Policy in consultation with Insurance Program Services, Legal Services, Control and Systems at HRDC National Headquarters. All parties concur in the format reflected in the Regulation.

This Regulation is the logical continuation of two pilot projects which were set up to run, the first one from June 1995 to June 1996, and the second one from June 1996 to June 1999, in response to requests from Employment Insurance clients and HRDC staff, who wanted better service and rationalised administration.

This Regulation virtually reproduces the application parameters that were employed in the two pilot projects.

Compliance and enforcement

The types of benefit claims covered by the Regulation (maternity, parental and apprenticeship training) are those for which periodic reports are the least necessary.

Nevertheless, claimants who are not required to make periodic claims for benefits in such circumstances shall complete a form stating that they will notify the Commission as soon as possible if they cease to meet a condition of entitlement to benefits during their period of eligibility, for example, if a claimant obtains unexpected earnings while receiving maternity, parental or training benefits.

Claimants also undertake to notify the Commission, at the conclusion of their period of eligibility, that the conditions of entitlement to benefits have been met for each week of their period of eligibility, and that any earnings that may be deducted pursuant to section 19, 22 or 23 of the Act during this period have been declared.

Claimants who knowingly failed to declare a situation of non-entitlement or earnings for benefit purposes will be assessed a penalty for each offence pursuant to section 38 of the Employment Insurance Act.

The existing compliance mechanisms of the regulatory and control procedures in effect within Human Resources Development Canada will guarantee that this Regulation is implemented appropriately and is subsequently evaluated.

Year 2000 Note

This initiative will not impact negatively on the ability of the federal government, other levels of government, or the private sector to achieve Year 2000 compliance.

Contact Persons

Operational Application

Diane Houle
Insurance Services Specialist
Human Resources Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, 9th floor
Hull, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Tel.: (819) 997-5779
Fax: (819) 997-8640

Regulatory Policy

René Racette
Senior Policy Advisor
Insurance - Policy and Legislation Development
Human Resources Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, 9th floor
Hull, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Tel.: (819) 997-8611
Fax: (819) 953-9381

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