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Employment Insurance (EI) Report on Hiring Program
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS
Employment Insurance Regulation Section 55.1 provides Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) with the lawful authority to obtain employee information for the purpose of this program. This regulation ensures that the department is compliant with both federal and provincial privacy legislation and safeguards the privacy of Canadian workers. The following documents provide more information on the reinstatement of this voluntary program:
How the program works
How is hiring information used by HRSDC
Concerning your employees
Requests for Payroll Information from HRSDC
How to register
How the program works
Your participation in the Report on Hirings (ROH) program is voluntary. To help detect and deter overpayments, HRSDC is asking you, as an employer, to report the Social Insurance Number and first day worked of your newly-hired or recalled employees on an on-going basis.
This information is quickly matched against our Benefit Pay file to see if those who are still collecting income benefits have declared their work and earnings. By reporting their hirings promptly, participating employers help us detect abuse at an early stage and protect their contributions to the Employment Insurance Fund. For participating employers, it also means that the Requests for Payroll information forms you receive from us deal with more current payroll data.
How is hiring information used by HRSDC
HRSDC will only extract information on employees who are, or have been claimants, and for whom there appears to be an over-payment. Information collected through the Report on Hirings (ROH) program can be used in the administration of HRSDC's employment and benefit programs.
When the Hiring information has been processed the Social Insurance Numbers of the new or recalled employees are matched against our National EI Claim File to see if the employee has an Employment Insurance claim in any of the provinces or territories.
If there is a match and the employee is still claiming EI benefits after the first day worked, a potential overpayment exists and an "observation" is created.
If an observation is created, the investigator contacts the employer to get payroll information and then contacts the claimant by letter or in person depending on the situation. Any overpayment of EI benefits will have to be repaid by the individual to HRSDC.
If abuse or fraud is involved, the claimant may have a penalty imposed under the Employment Insurance Act or he/she may be prosecuted in the courts.
Note: The actual "return to work" date of a recalled employee is to be reported as a new hiring if a Record of Employment was issued to him or her at time of the most recent lay-off.
Concerning your employees
HRSDC will only extract information on employees who are, or have been, EI clients. Information collected through the Report on Hirings program will be used in the administration of the HRSDC employment and benefit programs.
We strongly recommend that you advise your employees of your participation in the Report on Hirings program because it will act as a strong deterrent against the abuse of income benefits. For your convenience, a poster (PDF 1 page) is available and can be printed to inform employees of your participation in this control program. About PDF Files.
Some employers may prefer to advise their employees in the form of an article in their internal newsletter.
topRequests for Payroll Information from HRSDC
An observation is produced when a potential overpayment of EI benefits exists after hirings are matched against our EI claim file.
The observation is sent to the local office where the claim is administered.
If the investigator requires payroll information, he/she will contact the employer’s pay centre at the address shown on the observation.
Consequently, employers who have a number of pay centres must decide whether they want the Requests for Payroll Information sent to their central pay office or to their regional pay centres.
topHow to register
For questions relating to the ROH program, you can contact the Miramichi Investigation Centre toll free at 1 800 615-9144.
For questions about the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you should contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner:
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By mail: 112 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1H3
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Internet: www.privcom.gc.ca
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E-mail enquiries: info@privcom.gc.ca
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Phone: 613 995-8210 or 1 800 282-1376, toll free
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Fax: 613 947-6850
