December 12, 2016
To: Canadian Council and EI/UI Ad-Hoc Committee
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
Re: New EI Regulations on One Week Waiting Period
We’re writing to inform you of a change in Employment Insurance regulations that may affect your members.
In Budget 2016, the federal government announced that the EI waiting period would be reduced from two weeks to one week as of January 1, 2017. This fall, ESDC put forward the regulatory changes that were necessary to reduce the waiting period. These regulatory changes may impact workers who have negotiated a top-up during the two-week waiting period, depending on the specific language in their collective agreement.
Shortly after Budget 2016 was announced, the CLC met with ESDC and informed them of this unintended consequence. As a result, the regulations include a four-year transition period where workers may receive the full two week top-up without having any clawed back by EI. This is intended to allow unions and employers to negotiate alternatives, for example, moving the top-up to the end of the leave period. This transition period ends January 3, 2021.
However, if a collective agreement specifies that the top-up payment is for the waiting period, an employer would be within their rights to reduce this payment to one week, effective January 1, 2017. We urge all unions to take a careful look at their collective agreements and the proposed regulations.
If you have any additional concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Angella MacEwen at amacewen@clc-ctc.ca, or the Commissioner for Workers, Pierre Laliberté, at pierre.laliberte@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca.
In Solidarity,
Barbara Byers, C.M.
Secretary-Treasurer
cc: CLC Regional Directors and Executive Assistants rm/cope225