EI requirements (employment insurance, unemployment)

[KierWasHere]

(extra words in title to help show up in searches)

I recently got called in for an EI interview and I thought I would share my experience since I couldn't find any information on here going in to it. I was told that I was chosen because I am on my 4th claim and am now considered an "occasional claimant," and also told that I was contacted specifically because I am a planter. The EI person made it very clear that they often talk to planters whose only job search efforts have been lining up next years planting contract, and that that is not sufficient. The letter I got said to bring in my job search history for the last 2 weeks. SO even if you haven't been on top of that if you start now in two weeks you'll be good. Also it seems as though they look at your job search on a week to week basis, meaning that you could have a bunch of items one day per week and still qualify (not 100% on this, I still try to have items for every day).

In terms of what to have on your job search form, they really like anything verifiable, and more or less don't count anything they can't verify. So saying that you went to the employment agency to look at the notice board is not great, but if you start a file with them (the employment agency) and they know your name and can confirm thats a big plus. This meant that for me, all the real life things I did ended up being less valuable (on the job search form) than the online applications I sent in from home. Online applications are easy and verifiable (another thing they are very clear about in the interview is explaining how intensive your job search has to be, and that you don't have reasonable deniability for slacking off AFTER your interview, so now I have to be more on top than before).

The only other thing I wanted to mention is that I was told that I can't turn down a job offer (for salary reasons) for more than 70% of my last wage. I am not sure if this applies to everyone claiming EI or just "occasional claimants," but I would point out that although I calculate my planting earnings by how many hours I planted that day (first tree to last tree), I believe that if you actually turned down a job for this reason, they would compare the jobs wage with your total insurable earnings divided by your total insurable hours on your ROE. This is just a guess, but I wouldn't recommend arguing that because if you tell them your work hours are less than on your ROE they may question whether you had enough to qualify for EI.

That's all I can think of, I would be interested in hearing anyone elses experience, especially if you lost your claim due to an interview, and why.

[Scooter]

This article is very interesting:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia ... ents-on-ei

It seems to suggest that full-time students at university in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia ARE allowed to have an EI claim open during the school year. I first heard of this back in the fall because someone that I worked with (part-time) told me that he was enrolled at the local university and was simultaneously allowed to have an EI claim open. The article I just posted is from several months ago, and this morning is the first time that I went searching for more information about the possibility.

Be aware that the required number of hours, as noted in the article, appears to be for repeat claimants. A first time claimant for EI usually needs about 900 hours, if my memory is correct. Most planters only get about 600-700 hours in a full season in Western Canada right now (if they work for companies that do a full three months, May/June/July) so for those people, you'd probably need an additional ROE showing a few hundred hours of part-time work from during the school year, in order to qualify for your first claim. I'm not positive about that, because the last time that I had an EI claim was quite a few years ago.

This could be a great opportunity for some planters who have finished university to possibly go back to school for a Masters program and have their education subsidized while continuing to plant for a few more seasons in the summer. It may also help planters in their latter years of university to subsidize their cost of living while completing their first undergraduate program.

If anyone has experience with this, or knows if the program is running in more than just these two provinces, it would be great to share your knowledge.