Example 5

Unemployment insurance terms: what do they really mean?

  Benefit rate — You’ll get 60 per cent of your average weekly insurable earnings. It’s a taxable income.

Benefits — That’s what we call the money you get from UI.

Board of Referees — This is a three-person group, independent from UI, made up of a chairperson and members representing employees and employers. It reviews agents’ decisions when you appeal. It can change an agent’s decision.

Claimant - This means you as soon as you apply for UI.

Investigation Control Officers — These are trained investigators. They verify the facts on a claim for benefits and statements made by claimants. They cannot make decisions on claims. They present all the facts to UI agents who decide on cases.

Claimant’s report — This is a computer form which you fill out and send to UI — usually every two weeks. It’s a key document in making sure you get your money on time.

Disentitlement — This means you can’t get UI benefits because you do not meet one or more conditions of eligibility. For example, if you’re not available for work or don’t actively look for work, you could be disentitled — for a day, a week or indefinitely — as long as the condition exists.

Disqualification — This means UI benefits are withheld for up to six weeks. A disqualification can be imposed if you lose your job for misconduct or you voluntarily leave your job.
It could be imposed if you turn down a suitable job when it’s offered, if you refuse to apply for suitable work, or if you don’t attend a training course arranged by our employment services. For reasons like these, a UI agent can prevent benefits being paid for up to six weeks.
It’s a specialist’s language, like the language of the law. It has exact meanings. At first, it’s confusing. To understand what UI terms are all about, here’s a handy glossary.

Administrative penalty — This is a money penalty of three times your weekly benefit rate. It may be imposed by an insurance agent when a false or misleading statement has knowingly been made in a claim for benefit.
If the false or misleading statement resulted in an overpayment it must be repaid in full. And the penalty must be paid too. If false or misleading statements are made more than once, on claimants’ reports, for example, then there could be more than one penalty.

Agent — An agent is an insurance officer who makes decisions about the payment or non-payment of benefits.

Appeal — You have the right to challenge any decision made by a UI agent about your claim. The appeal process to the Board of Referees and the Umpire is free.

Average weekly insurable earnings — Your agent, using your Record(s) of Employment, will take the average of your insurable earnings in the last 20 weeks you worked in your qualifying period (or all weeks of insurable employment, if less than 20).
You’ll get 60 per cent of this as your weekly benefit rate. Income tax is deducted from this amount.

Benefit period — A benefit period is 52 weeks. But everyone has a two-week waiting period. So the longest anyone can collect UI is 50 weeks. The number of weeks you can collect depends on how long you worked before you lost your job and the rate of unemployment in the area where you ordinarily live.