Summary of Issue: Special Benefits

Decision A0223.12 Full Text of Decision A0223.12

(101 other similar cases) The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) has been in effect for many years and enables employers in the agricultural sector to recruit temporary workers from the time of crop planting to harvesting. The claimants applied for EI parental benefits between 2008 and 2010 and requested that their applications be antedated for periods ranging from 6 months to 18 years. They alleged that they were unable to apply for parental benefits earlier due to their difficult working conditions, language barriers, low education levels, limited access to information, and isolation from the community. The Commission denied their antedate requests. The FCA found that the Umpire erred in law in failing to take into account the general barriers facing SAWP workers and their individual situations in claiming EI benefit. The FCA also found that, since there was no requirement that a claimant for parental benefits be available for work, administrative difficulties of proving claims should not be factored into a determination of whether the claimant had good cause for the delay.

Decision A-0004.95 Full Text of Decision A-0004.95

Two factors were considered by the umpire: the claims requested (at age 65) are of a type that one would not expect to find in an unemployment insurance system, and the insured had contributed to the system for 30 years. It is deemed that these two factors have nothing to do with the delay invoked.

Decision A-1283.92 Full Text of Decision A-1283.92

In the case of sickness or maternity benefits, the prejudice to the proper functioning of the system is relatively inexistent. proof of the patient's pathology, or pregnancy, can be easily determined. Good cause could be given a more liberal interpretation. Quashed in F.C.