As of January 4, 2004, the federal government introduced a new “compassionate care” benefit in the employment insurance system. While this a step forward, and will be useful in certain situations, it has a very limited application, and access to the E.I. benefit is not necessarily guaranteed, depending on where you work.
Considering the billions that the federal government has been able to take out of the E.I. fund as the result of benefit cutbacks, it is a pretty small payback.
To claim the compassionate care benefit, a worker must take time off work to care for parent, child, spouse or common-law partner who has a significant risk of dying within the next 26 weeks. A supporting medical certificate is required.
A total of six weeks benefit can be claimed, and the six weeks of benefit may be shared among family members. Several different family members cannot each claim six weeks of benefit to care for the same dying relative.
In most ways, the compassionate care benefit is treated like a normal E.I. claim. Claimants must meet the same basic eligibility requirements as for regular unemployment benefits, including the minimum required hours of insurable employment, and they will not receive benefits for the normal two-week waiting period (though there is only one waiting period if the benefit is shared). The period of compassionate care benefit will also be counted against the claimant’s maximum benefit period, if they have to claim E.I. benefits for other reasons.
While the federal legislation provides an E.I. benefit, it does not guarantee that a worker will be given time off by the employer to provide care. Most Canadian jurisdictions have introduced employment standards legislation giving workers the right to claim at least 8 weeks (six weeks of benefit plus the two week waiting period) of compassionate care leave. These provisions basically protect an employee’s job (and in some cases, benefits and seniority) if they take compassionate leave.
B.C., Alberta, Newfoundland, Ontario and the Northwest Territories have no such legal requirement. If you are in one of these jurisdictions, it is important to push the government, at a minimum, to bring in compassionate leave legislation to guarantee access to the E.I. benefit.
In the provinces with no compassionate leave legislation, it is clearly important for unionized workers to negotiate such a provision in their collective agreement. Even in the jurisdictions which do provide for access to the E.I. benefit, negotiating provisions beyond the bare legislated minimum would make the benefit much more meaningful.
For example, it is possible to negotiate a supplemental unemployment benefit (SUB) to top up the E.I. benefit, and reduce the loss of earnings. A longer period of employer-paid benefits, as well as the maintenance of benefit coverages and other protections (depending on the requirements of the jurisdiction and the collective agreement) could also be negotiated.
If eligibility for negotiated compassionate leave provisions is as strict as in the E.I. legislation, the cost is likely to be low. If the eligibility criteria are somewhat looser (broader scope of family coverage; coverage for severe, but not necessarily mortal, illness) costs would likely be higher.
