Our EI System is Broken

When Alexandra Prue was suddenly terminated from her retail job in April 2017 — three years into her employment and two weeks after her best review — she applied for employment insurance (EI) benefits. Those benefits were declined.

Ms Prue contacted EI to inquire why. She was told that the reason given by her employer for dismissal was “illness.” She was instructed to get a doctor’s note certifying she was fit to work. After submitting the doctor’s note, Prue was declined for employment insurance based on the fact that she was not ill. What?

If your EI benefits have been denied, the Service Canada online portal suggests loads of stuff you can do. You can call to talk to a rep, which Prue did to no avail. You can visit your Service Canada centre. After waiting an hour, Prue finally met with a Service Canada employee who, after asking three or four questions, took Prue to a phone, dialed a number, and left her while the hold-music played. It turned out to be the same number that Prue called from home weeks before. They had no answers.

If the Service Canada centre doesn’t work, you can file a Request for Reconsideration through the mail. These, it turns out, are processed fairly quickly. It took only a week to get the message, “We re-evaluated your claim and revised the dates that we considered you failed to provide a medical certificate to support your incapacity for work. Employment Insurance benefits are not payable to you for this reason.”

Her last resort: Me. She waived her privacy rights and I contacted EI to see what the hell was going on.

It’s amazing what can be accomplished when a) the media get involved and b) people can feel a hot, angry breath on their necks. I submitted Ms. Prue’s release and my questions on Christmas day. Guess what? I got a reply that night telling me they’d be back to me in a couple of days. On December 28 I received another email affirming that the issue was being looked into. That same day, Prue received a call from an EI representative seeking to clarify her twice-declined claim. On December 29, $9060 was deposited to her account. Another $4704 would appear as a pending deposit days later. Who says you can’t get anything done between Christmas and New Years!

When Ms. Prue asked the gentleman who contacted her, we’ll call him Kevin, what she should have done differently to get the right outcome he assured her she had done everything right. She pressed the issue, asking, “So why is doing everything right not enough?” Kevin was silent.

So I wanted to know why someone would be denied sickness benefits if their claim was for regular benefits? The response from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) was, “Ms. Prue was not denied EI sickness benefits, because she did not apply for EI sickness benefits.” Nice deflection.  So what was the problem then with her claim?

I asked why, if someone qualifies for regular benefits, the claim would be denied. ESDC replied, “Ms. Prue was initially considered entitled for EI regular benefits because medical proof was required in order to confirm her availability because she declared that the reason for separation was sickness and not dismissal.”

Oh, bite me. In addition to being untrue, doesn’t that second answer contradict their first? Now I’m really confused.

It appears Ms. Prue’s case may be less of an anomaly than ESDC would like us to think. When I put out a call on Twitter for people who were confused by their EI claim denials, I heard some interesting stories.  Because of privacy issues, I will refer to these people only by initials.

AL wrote: When I asked about speaking to an EI supervisor she told me that she doesn’t have the ability to transfer me to the EI group and made it clear that my questions were not appreciated.  Herein lies the crux of the matter. The people to whom I was able to speak didn’t have answers and the people with answers were unavailable to me.

CV wrote: I was approved for EI in early August and was getting payments but my claim went under review from October 22 to December 25 and I did not receive payments because of vacation pay that my employer and I both reported in mid-August. I received a large EI payment in late December, which got me caught up … the 9/10 week wait felt long and uncertain. I didn’t sleep well and I was very anxious.

LS wrote: I filed on November 22 and still have no decision and am unable to reach someone for clarification.

DT wrote: I applied in late 2017. …my claim seemed to be approved (it was the first time I have applied after contributing for 18 years) however I have not heard anything since nor have I received any money.

BV said: I applied mid January. It took until April for me to get the money I should have received in January. If it wasn’t for my father’s ability to support me, I would have been homeless.

Homelessness might have been Ms. Prue outcome too. Instead of receiving the weekly payments to which she was entitled so she could pay her rent and buy food, she got nothing.

Interestingly, ESDC waited until the money was in Ms. Prue’s bank account so that in answer to my question, “…why you took her premiums but paid no benefits when she needed them?” they could respond “As of December 29, 2017, payments for 20 weeks of EI regular benefits were issued.”

All this is to say that ESDC is seriously messed up. If you’ve made an employment insurance claim and can get no good reason for your claim’s denial, it seems you must turn to the media to get answers. I am appalled at the obfuscation in ESDC’s responses. And, BTW, where’s the “We’re sorry?”

Ms. Prue was able to survive only because she could borrow money from friends and family. The system that exists to keep unemployed people like Ms. Prue off the streets failed to the tune of 31 weeks and $13,764 in missing benefits. Surely the whole point of employment insurance isn’t to leave people destitute after years of paying into the plan?

Alexandra Prue is my daughter. I’m not related to any of the other people in this story. If you’ve experienced a run-around from EI, it’s time to yell about it. The social safety net isn’t a government handout; you’ve paid into the system and you deserve to be treated with respect. If you aren’t, shout. I’m listening.

 

PS Alex hasn’t received another penny from EI since the beginning of January, which means they are three months behind. AGAIN. Despite repeated calls to “Kevin,” she hasn’t had any joy. I’m sure there are more of you out there who are frustrated with the system. I want to hear from you because the system is broken and we have to do something to fix it.