Many families can hope for more this Thanksgiving weekend says Atamanenko
CASTLEGAR MP Alex Atamanenko (BC Southern Interior) stated Friday that he is pleased with federal Human Resources Minister Finley’s statement Thursday that the government will finally agree to the amendments to Bill C-50 that the NDP has been calling for - to ensure long-tenured workers who applied for EI benefits as of January 4th, 2009 or later will qualify for extended benefits of up to 20 weeks.
“Now it is important that Bill C-50 pass quickly–so that struggling families can get the help they need now,” added Atamanenko.
Finley was reacting to NDP-led concerns that the legislation, as written, linked the start date to a mid-October deadline for passage of the bill by Parliament. This would have meant that the later the legislation passed, the fewer people would have qualified for the extension.
Atamanenko said the projections show that 190,000 long-tenured workers will benefit from this temporary provision. Thousands of laid-off workers per week would have missed out on qualifying for the extended benefits had the Conservatives not agreed to this change put forward by the NDP.
The federal NDP has been fighting tirelessly for needed EI reforms,” said Atamanenko. I am heartened to see that Minister Finley has finally seen the wisdom of this legislative amendment offering important, though limited, improvement. This means that thousands of families across the country who are hurting during this economic recession can have a bit of good news around Thanksgiving.”
BILL C-50 BACKGROUNDER:
NOTE: The big difference stated by Minister Finley at the parliamentary committee meeting October 8 is that EI benefits effective January 4th, 2009 or later will be eligible for up to a 20 week extension, when the proposed amended legislation passes in the House of Commons.
The Employment Insurance Act provides coverage for several types of benefits, including unemployment benefits (also called regular benefits), fishing benefits, special benefits (sickness, maternity, parental and compassionate care benefits), work-sharing benefits and employment benefits. Unemployment benefits are intended to replace a portion of eligible workers’ wages, provided their unemployment is involuntary, i.e., their jobs were lost through no fault of their own. These benefits account for the greatest proportion of employment insurance (EI) expenditures.
Bill C-50 introduces several qualifying periods during which claimants who meet certain criteria can receive regular unemployment benefits for a longer period than the standard maximum generally provided for under the Act. These amendments are, however, designed to taper off: shorter and shorter extensions will apply, until such time as the duration of benefits returns to the normal length under the Act. Therefore, under these amendments, temporary extensions of various lengths will only be available until September 2010.
These amendments are in addition to the five-week, across-the-board extension of regular benefits that was introduced by the federal government in its Budget Implementation Act 2009, which received Royal Assent on 12 March 2009. This extension took effect for any claimants whose benefit period had not ended by 1 March 2009 (1) and is in effect until September 2010. (2)
The changes in Bill C-50 will provide a possible further extension, but only to claimants who have received less than 36 weeks of regular benefits during the 5 years (260 weeks) before the start of their benefit period and have paid a minimum level of EI premiums for a range of periods. (3) (4) The number of additional weeks of benefits depends on the number of years during which the claimant has made EI contributions and on the level of those contributions. For example, at the bottom of the scale, claimants who contributed at least 30% of their maximum employee premiums in 7 of the 10 years preceding the start of their benefit period would be entitled to receive an additional 5 weeks of benefits. At the top of the scale, claimants who contributed at least 30% of their maximum EI employee premiums in at least 12 of the 15 years preceding their benefit period would be entitled to 20 additional weeks of benefits.
These measures are aimed at unemployed individuals who have paid EI premiums for a significant period of time and who, although they may have received benefits in the past, are not regular users of the EI program – a group that the government refers to as “long-tenured workers.” (5) The government estimates that Bill C-50 will benefit approximately 190,000 workers in this group. (6)
Tags: EI, unemployment