Reforming access to employment insurance
Did you know that only 40% of unemployed construction workers get benefits? But 100% are paying into EI! The current plan hurts construction workers. It’s time for a change. No doubt about it!
Enhancing access to employment insurance
Do you have a precarious or unusual job and don’t get enough hours to be eligible for EI benefits? It’s high time that the employment insurance structure caught up to the way we work now!
CSD Construction is calling for hybrid eligibility conditions that would grant EI benefits to people who work either 420 hours or 12 weeks, whichever calculation method is more favourable.
Do you work a lot of hours over a short timeframe? The hour-based calculation would be better for you.
Do you work part time? The weeks-based calculation would be better for you.
Putting an end to exclusions
Losing your job is incredibly stressful. So imagine how painful it is when a worker learns that they don’t qualify for EI. For the sake of fairness, we recommend limiting the exclusion to 6 weeks before granting EI benefits to people who are laid off or who voluntarily leave their job.
Increase the duration of benefits to banish the “black hole”
The black hole is the time when an unemployed worker doesn’t receive EI benefits. It’s a stressful situation we want to avoid at all costs!
The unemployment rate in your region is what decides whether or not you’re eligible for EI. The lower the unemployment rate, the lower your benefits. This way of calculating penalizes seasonal workers and workers who live in areas with lower unemployment rates.
CSD Construction is fighting for:
- A benefit period of at least 35 weeks and up to 51 weeks depending on the number of hours or weeks worked
- A benefit amount that doesn’t depend on region unemployment rates, one that’s instead calculated based on the highest-paid 12 weeks of work during the reference period
Changes to special benefits
Seasonal workers, workers who have unusual jobs and workers who’ve taken maternity or parental leave don’t log enough hours during the reference period to be eligible for EI.
So that all workers can be thoroughly protected, CSD Construction is calling for:
- Eliminating benefit categories so that everyone is eligible for EI benefits as soon as they’ve worked 420 hours or 12 weeks
- Extending both the benefit period and the reference period so that workers, especially women, can get the payments they deserve if they lose their job during or after a parental leave.
We’re also calling for sickness benefits to be extended from 15 to 51 weeks.
Extending the reference and benefit periods in case of long-term collective disputes
People who get laid off after a strike often don’t qualify for employment insurance benefits because they lost weeks of work during the labour conflict.
Workers exercising their right to strike shouldn’t be penalized, so we’re working to get the benefit and reference periods extended by the number of weeks the conflict took so that workers can get the EI payments they deserve.
Increasing the income replacement rate
It’s been since 1994 that EI benefits have provided you 55% of your average weekly income. This is one of the lowest rates in OECD countries. CSD Construction is calling for benefits of 60% of your income.
Increasing the insurable earnings maximum
To make sure that workers who are going through a period of unemployment have decent income, we’re recommending that the insurable earnings maximum be increased. Right now the maximum is $60,300. We’re calling for it be raised to $76,500.
