Hello Union Family
Due to the high number of calls regarding Records of Employment (ROE) due to COVID I will try to answer the more common ones, but if you still have questions please contact me at the Edmonton Union Hall at (780) 426-2874.
Service Canada issued a notice to Employers regarding Box 16 reason for separation;
- When employee sick or quarantined – Code D illness or injury – do not include comments
- When employee stops working due to shortage of work or shutdown due to Covid-19 Code A – Shortage of work – do not include comments
- When employee is not sick or quarantined but not working due to other Coronavirus related reasons – Code E (Quit) or Code N (Leave of Absence) do not include comments
The reason that comments are not to be entered is because comments trigger a review by a service agent and will hold up the process of receiving benefits. Once you are submitting your claim the program will prompt you if the layoff was due to COVID 19. This is where you get to self-report that your layoff was due to COVID 19.
The Government of Canada has stated that the COVID benefits will not use up regular Employment Insurance weeks. However, they have not provided notice on how this will work or what information will need to be supplied but for now getting benefits started is the focus and the rest will be worked out as they go along.
There has also been a number of problems with Members being issued ROE’s that have incorrect start or end dates. If this has happened to you, please contact the contractor and the Local as soon as possible. The Government is holding up a number of claims to do the individuals information not being the same as on the ROE, or ROE’s being changed after they have been filed. So, it is best to have this rectified as soon as possible to reduce wait times for benefits.
Thank you
Kevin Lecht