By temporarily replacing the Employment Insurance program, the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit has provided critical support to millions of Canadians and their families during the COVID-19 crisis.
But it also has a glaring loophole that is short-changing workers whose jobs have been affected by COVID-19, who should be receiving additional employer-funded income assistance.
Hundreds of thousands of workers in Canada have access to Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) payments when they are on layoff. These special, employer-paid benefit “top-ups” can provide hundreds of dollars per week to offset a worker’s loss of income.
Unlike Employment Insurance, the CERB rules deny workers their SUB payments. The federal government must fix this critical flaw in the CERB rules without delay.
We’re calling on all of our members to support our call for the federal government to allow workers whose jobs have been affected by COVID-19 to access SUB payments, if they’re eligible to receive them. It doesn’t cost the government a dime, but it can make a world of difference for workers whose livelihoods are on the line.
Send a letter to Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Finance Minister Bill Morneau using the form letter provided HERE, to urge them to change these unfair rules that deny workers facing hard times from accessing benefits they’re entitled to. You can also copy your local MP by entering your postal code here and finding your local MP’s contact information.