Employment Insurance Regulations - Amendments

---

1. (1) Paragraph 6(a) of the Employment Insurance Regulations¹ is replaced by the following:

(a) employment of a union member by the member's union in conducting union business, other than picketing in a labour dispute;

(2) Paragraph 6(f) of the Regulations is amended by striking out the word "or" at the end of subparagraph (ii), by replacing the word "and" at the end of subparagraph (iii) with the word "or" and by adding the following after subparagraph (iii):

(iv) where the person holds the office in a union or an association of unions to which the person was elected by popular vote, or was elected or appointed to that office in the union or association in a representative capacity, and that employment is not included in insurable employment by paragraph (a); and

2. Subsection 9(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) the employment of a person by an employer in agriculture, an agricultural enterprise or horticulture that would otherwise be insurable is excluded from insurable employment if the person is employed by the employer in that employment for

(a) less than seven days in a year; or
(b) seven days or more in a year and is not remunerated in cash by the employer for any part of that employment.

3. The Regulations are amended by adding the following before section 10:

9.1 Where a person's earnings are paid on an hourly basis, the person is considered to have worked in insurable employment for the number of hours that the person actually worked and for which the person was remunerated.

4. (1) Subsection 10(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Except where subsection (1) and section 9.1 apply, where there is doubt or lack of specific knowledge on the part of the employer as to the actual hours of work performed by a worker or by a group of workers, the employer and the worker or group of workers may, subject to subsection (3) and as is reasonable in the circumstances, agree on the number of hours of work that would normally be required to gain the earnings referred to in subsection (1), and, where they do so, each worker is deemed to have worked that number of hours in insurable employment.

(2) Subsection 10(4) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(4) Except where subsection (1) and section 9.1 apply, where a person's actual hours of insurable employment in the period of employment are not known or ascertainable by the employer, the person, subject to subsection (5), is deemed to have worked, during the period of employment, the number of hours in insurable employment obtained by dividing the total earnings for the period of employment by the minimum wage applicable, on January 1 of the year in which the earnings were payable, in the province where the work was performed.

(3) Subsections 10(6) and (7) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

(6) Subsections (1)to (5) are subject to section 10.1.

5. The Regulations are amended by adding the following after section 10:

10.1 (1) Where an insured person is remunerated by the employer for a period of paid leave, the person is deemed to have worked in insurable employment for the number or hours that the person would normally have worked and for which the person would normally have been remunerated during that period.

(2) Where an insured person is remunerated by the employer for a period of leave in the form of a lump sum payment calculated without regard to the length of the period of leave, the person is deemed to have worked in insurable employment for the lesser of

(a) the number of hours that the person would normally have worked and for which the person would normally have been remunerated during the period, and

(b)the number of hours obtained by dividing the lump sum amount by the normal hourly rate of pay.

(3) Where an insured person is remunerated by the employer for a non-working day and

(a) works on that day, the person is deemed to have worked in insurable employment for the greater of the number of hours that the person actually worked and the number of hours that the person would normally have worked on that day; and

(b) does not work on that day, the person is deemed to have worked in insurable employment for the number of hours that the person would normally have worked on that day.

10.2 For the purposes of section 9.1, 10, 10.1 and 22,

(a) an hour of work performed in insurable employment is considered to be a single hour of insurable employment, even if the hour is remunerated at an overtime rate of pay; and

(b) if the addition of hours of insurable employment falling between the first day and the last day worked in a given period of employment results in a total number of hours that contains a fraction of an hour, the fraction shall be counted as a whole hour.

6. The portion of subsection 12(2) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) For the purposes of subsection 14(4) of the Act, a prescribed week is a week in which the claimant has no insurable earnings and is

7. Section 13 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

13. For the purpose of paragraph 7.1(6)(b) of the Act, the average number of weeks of regular benefits of a claimant is the maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid to the claimant under section 8 of the Employment Insurance (Fishing) Regulations or subsection 12(2) of the Act, less the number of weeks of benefits paid to the claimant, including the weeks of benefits used to establish the overpayment under paragraph 7.1(6)(a) of the Act, with the result divided by two.

8. Subsection 15(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

 (2) Subject to subsection (2.1), the earnings that are to be taken into account for the purposes of subsection 19(3) of the Act are wages, salary and commissions from any employment and payments for the performance of services or for the sale or provision of a product or service in the course of employment, and shall not include any lump sum payments not directly attributable to the period of employment referred to in subsection (4) or any payments made by reason of lay-off or separation from employment.

(2.1) For the purposes of subsection (2), the earnings referred to in that subsection shall be determined by applying paragraphs 35(10)(a) to (c) as if the reference to "income" in subsection 35(10) were read as a reference to "earnings".

9. Paragraph 16(3)(b) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(b) is paid earnings or allowances under Part II of the Act for certain weeks for attending a course or program of instruction or is paid earnings from employment for certain weeks of employment under the Job Creation Partnership employment benefit established by the Commission under paragraph 59(d) of the Act; and

10. Section 22 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

22. (1) Where a period of employment falls partially within a claimant's qualifying period, the Commission shall, unless the claimant or employer provides evidence of the number of hours actually worked within the qualifying period

(a) first allocate the total number of hours worked by the claimant proportionately over the whole period of employment if that period is 52 weeks or less, or over the period of employment covered by the record of employment if that period is more than 52 weeks, on the basis that the claimant worked the same number of hours on each of the seven days of each week; and

(b) then allocate the hours, that have been allocated under paragraph (a) to the portion of the period of employment that falls within the qualifying period, proportionately over the corresponding portion of the qualifying period.

(2) Where the allocation referred to in subsection (1) results in a number of hours that contains a fraction of an hour, the fraction shall be counted as a whole hour.

11. The heading before section 23 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Allocation of Insurable Earnings

12. Subsections 23(1) to (4) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

23. (1) For the purposes of section 14 of the Act, insurable earnings shall be allocated in the following manner:

(a) remuneration, including statutory holiday pay, other than the remuneration referred to in paragraph (b), paid in respect of a pay period shall be allocated to that pay period; and

(b) overtime pay, shift premiums, pay adjustments, retroactive pay increases, bonuses, gratuities, accumulated sick leave credits, incentive payments, cost of living allowances, separation payments, wages in lieu of notice and any other remuneration including vacation pay not paid in respect of a pay period, shall be allocated proportionately over the pay period in which they are paid.

(1.1) Where an insured person is on unpaid leave or has quit their employment or been terminated or laid off, the remuneration referred to in paragraph (1)(b) shall be allocated proportionately over the last pay period for which regular salary, wages or commissions are paid.

(2) Where an insured person is employed in insurable employment on the basis of a contract for a fixed term and their insurable earnings under the contract are not paid on a regular basis, the insurable earnings shall, regardless of the basis on which they are paid, be allocated proportionately over the term of the contract.

 (3) Where the remuneration of an insured person consists solely of commissions or of salary and irregularly paid commissions, the person's insurable earnings paid in the period of employment or in the last 52 weeks, whichever is shorter, shall be allocated proportionately over the shorter of the period of employment and the last 52 weeks, as applicable, excluding weeks for which the insured person is on unpaid leave of absence from employment for one of the reason referred to in subsection 12(3) of the Act.

(4) Where an insured person has insurable earnings to which none of subsections (1) and (3) apply, the insurable earnings paid in the period of employment or in the last 52 weeks, whichever is shorter, shall be allocated proportionately over the shorter of the period of employment and the last 52 weeks, as applicable.

13. Section 24 of the Regulations is replaced by the following: 

24. Where a period of employment for which insurable earnings have been reported on the record of employment falls partially within the claimant's rate calculation period, the Commission shall, unless presented by the claimant or the employer with evidence of the amount of insurable earnings actually earned in the rate calculation period, allocate the amount of insurable earnings, excluding insurable earnings paid or payable on or after January 1, 1997 by reason of lay-off or separation from employment, proportionately over that period of employment, on the basis that the claimant earned the same amount of insurable earnings for each of the seven days of each week.

24.1 The amount of insurable earnings paid or payable to a claimant by the employer on or after January 1, 1997 by reason of lay-off or separation from employment that are to be considered insurable earnings for the rate calculation period is the lesser of

(a) the actual amount of those earnings, and

(b) the amount obtained by multiplying the total amount of insurable earnings paid or payable to the claimant for the rate calculation period, less any insurable earnings paid or payable on or after January 1, 1997 by reason of lay-off or separation from employment, by 0.18.

14. The heading before section 29 of the regulations is replaced by the following:

Employed Person Working a Full Working Week-Special Cases

15. Subsection 30(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

30. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (4), where during any week a claimant is self-employed or engaged in the operation of a business on the claimant's own account or in a partnership or co-adventure, or is employed in any other employment in which the claimant controls their working hours, the claimant is considered to have worked a full working week during that week.

16. Section 31 of the Regulations and the heading before it are replaced by the following:

Employed Persons Working a Full Working Week

31. (1) A full working week of a claimant, other than a claimant referred to in section 29 or 30, is the number of hours, days or shifts normally worked in a calendar week by persons in the claimant's grade, class or shift at the factory, workshop or other premises at which the claimant is or was employed.

(2) Where the number of hours, days or shifts referred to in subsection (1) is the number that is normally worked by persons in part-time employment and is less than the number of hours, days or shifts normally worked in a calendar week by persons employed in full-time employment in the employment that is closest in nature to the claimant's employment, the claimant is considered to have worked a full working week when the claimant has worked the number of hours that are normally worked by a person in full-time employment.

(3) The full working week of a claimant, other than a claimant referred to in section 29 or 30, who is remunerated on a piece, mileage or other unit rate is the number of days normally worked in a calendar week by persons in the claimant's grade, class or shift at the factory, workshop or other premises at which the claimant is or was employed.

17. (1) The portion of subsection 33(2) of the French version of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) Le prestataire qui exerçait un emploi dans l'enseignement pendant une partie de sa période de référence n'est pas admissible au bénéfice des prestations - sauf celles payables aux termes des articles 22 et 23 de la Loi - pour les semaines de chômage comprises dans toute période de congé de celui-ci, sauf si, selon le cas :

(2) Subsection 33(3) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) Where a claimant who was employed in teaching for any part of the claimant's qualifying period qualifies to receive benefits in respect of employment in an occupation other than teaching, the amount of benefits payable for a week of unemployment that falls within any non-teaching period of the claimant shall be limited to the amount that is payable in respect of the employment in that other occupation.

18. (1) Paragraph 35(2)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(a) amounts payable to a claimant in respect of wages, benefits or other remuneration from the proceeds realized from the property of a bankrupt employer;

(2) The portion of subsection 35(10) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(10) For the purposes of subsection (2), "income" includes

19. Subsection 36(9) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(9) Sous réserve des paragraphes (10) et (11), toute rémunération payée ou payable au prestataire en raison de son licenciement ou de la cessation de son emploi est, abstraction faite de la nature de la rémunération et de la période pour laquelle elle est présentée comme étant payée ou payable, répartie sur un nombre de semaines qui commence par la semaine du licenciement ou de la cessation d'emploi, de sorte que la rémunération totale tirée par lui de cet emploi dans chaque semaine consécutive, sauf la dernière, soit égale à sa rémunération hebdomadaire normale provenant de cet emploi.

(2) Subsection 36(13) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(13) A payment paid or payable to a claimant in respect of a holiday or non-working day that is observed as such by law, custom or agreement, or a holiday or non-working day immediately preceding or following a holiday or non-working day that occurs at the establishment of the employer or former employer from whom the claimant receives that payment, shall be allocated to the week in which that day occurs.

20. Subsection 39(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

39.(1) Where a claimant has earnings in respect of a period that falls in the claimant's waiting period, an amount equal to those earnings or, where paragraph 19(3)(a) of the Act applies in respect of those earnings, the amount required by that paragraph to be deducted, shall be deducted from the benefits payable for the first three weeks for which benefits are otherwise payable.

21. Section 55 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (11):

(12) Subject to subsection (13), where a claimant makes a claim for the purposes of this section, the claim shall be sent in an envelope or package addressed to the Commission, by mail or by means of a confirmed delivery service.

(13) Where a claim is sent by the claimant to the Commission in a manner other than the manner required by subsection (12), the claim shall be reviewed by an employee of the Commission at the time of importation.

22. Section 89 of the Regulations is amended by adding the following after subsection (19):

(20) A Social Insurance Number card shall not be imported or exported by any person by means of a confirmed delivery service unless the importation or exportation is verified by the Commission at the time of the importation or exportation as not being for a prohibited use described in subsection 141(1) of the Act.

23. The heading "Transitional Provision" before section 94 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Transitional Provisions

24. The Regulations are amended by adding the following after section 94:

94.1 Where, for the purposes of the Act and in respect of a benefit period established on or after January 5, 1997, a claimant presents evidence of a week of insurable employment that occurred before January 1, 1997, that week of insurable employment shall be considered to represent 35 hours of insurable employment.

94.2 Where, for the purposes of the Act and in respect of a benefit period established on or after January 5, 1997, a claimant presents evidence of insurable employment that occurred before January 1, 1997,

(a) the weeks of insurable employment shall be considered to fall consecutively backward beginning on whichever of the following days occurred first:

(i) the last day of the last pay period in 1996, and

(ii) the last day of remunerated insurable employment if that day falls before the last pay period in 1996; and

(b) if the number of weeks of insurable employment is

(i) 20 or less, the insurable earnings are considered to be for that number of weeks, and

(ii) greater than 20, the insurable earnings are considered to be for the last 20 weeks in the period of employment.

94.3 For the purpose of providing for the transition from weeks of insurable employment to hours of insurable employment where the remuneration for the last pay period beginning in December 1996 is paid to an insured person by their employer on or after January 1, 1997,

(a) the employer shall assess the insurability of the employment of that final pay period under these Regulations as they read on January 1, 1997; and

(b) the claimant shall, for the purposes of sections 7 and 12 of the Act, be determined to have worked in insurable employment for the greater of

(i) the number of hours provided for by section 94.1, and

(ii) the number of hours actually worked in each week or part of a week of insurable employment, of the final pay period, that falls in 1996.

COMING INTO FORCE

25. (1) These Regulations, except section 7, come into force on January 1, 1997.

      (2) Section 7 comes into force on January 5, 1997.


______________________
¹ SOR/96-332