COVID-19 Employment Insurance Benefits: The Facts

Can I collect Employment Insurance (EI) if I self-isolate or quarantine?

You can collect EI if you have to take time off work due to a quarantine or self-isolation. You may also be eligible for EI if you are unable to work due to illness caused by the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, March 11, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced EI assistance for workers who self-isolate due to COVID-19. The federal government is waiving the one-week waiting period for Employment Insurance benefits for Canadians who are not working because of the outbreak.

Under regular circumstances, individuals would have to wait one week before the start of EI payments. That would mean that for a two-week quarantine, you would only receive benefits for one of those two weeks. The elimination of the waiting period means that someone can receive benefits for a complete quarantine period that runs for 14 days.

Canada took a similar step during the SARS outbreak in 2003 in an effort to encourage employees to stay home. At that time, the waiting period for EI benefits was set at two weeks.

Employment lawyer Jon Pinkus, partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, told the Toronto Star recently that “removing those restrictions on EI, allowing a more streamlined process for people to obtain EI, I think would be very helpful right now.”

Do I qualify for EI?

Eligible claimants can receive up to 15 weeks of income replacement.

To qualify, you must have worked 600 insurable hours during the year leading up to your claim date.

Self-employed individuals can access EI only if they opted into the program at least one full year before filing a claim.

The maximum payout for EI is $573 per week.

Do I need a doctor’s note to qualify for EI?

Under normal circumstances you would need to obtain a doctor’s note or medical certificate signed by a doctor in order to qualify for EI benefits.

However, the Canadian Press is reporting that the government is waiving the requirement for patients who go into quarantine if directed to by law or by the representative of a public health authority. The office of Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough is also claiming that individuals told to self-isolate by their employers (based on guidance from public health officials) will also qualify for Employment Insurance without the need of a doctor’s note.

“This decision by the government makes perfect sense,” says Pinkus. “Asking employees to go to their doctor, sit in waiting rooms with other people who they can then infect, or get infected from, simply to prove to their employer that they’re sick, would be extremely counterproductive to what we’re trying to do in terms of quarantine.”

The need for a medical certificate in order to qualify for EI was waived during the SARS incident. This was done to steer people away from doctor’s offices to minimize the potential spread of the virus.

Read more about coronavirus and your rights
Employee rights during a coronavirus outbreak
Handling a coronavirus epidemic at work
Employer rights and COVID-19

If you believe that your employment rights are being negatively impact by your employer’s reaction to the coronavirus outbreak, contact one of our employment lawyers Toronto, an employment lawyer in Vancouver, or an Ottawa employment lawyer.

Can my employer top up my EI Benefits?

An employer does have the ability to top up an employee’s EI benefits during a temporary layoff due to illness. This is done by creating a Supplementary Unemployment Benefit Plan, or SUBP.

Employers should register a SUBP through Service Canada, and meet all of their requirements. Failure to properly set up a SUBP will see the payment treated as income, which may lead to a reduction in EI benefits.