Human Resources Committee on March 23rd, 2017

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

That means that all mothers outside Quebec who work in unstable or non-standard jobs—as an increasing number of young women do—and who do not qualify for EI benefits because of the instability in the job market are no more in a position to access the new parental benefits announced yesterday, or any that might be announced, than they were before. That is clear.

[Andrew Brown]

Yes.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Are self-employed workers in the same boat?

In other words, if they do not qualify for regular EI benefits, they do not qualify for the maternal or parental benefits either.

[Andrew Brown]

Self-employed workers have access to a voluntary employment insurance program, meaning that they have to choose to sign up for and pay into the regime, which gives them access to maternity and parental benefits.

Only about 15,000 individuals across the country participate in the program, so the number of self-employed workers enrolling in the program is low. That said, those who enrol tend to be young women, likely because they want to be able to access these benefits.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

In your remarks, you mentioned the importance of greater flexibility, calling it one of the reasons why the government raised the number of weeks for which women were allowed to claim EI maternity benefits before their due date from eight to 12.

If, during the 15 weeks of maternity benefits, the mother loses the child and cannot return to work, is she still able to access EI support at that stage?

[Andrew Brown]

I will comment on the 15 weeks of maternity benefits first. In the unfortunate event that a problem occurs—

and there is a stillbirth, for example, the mother still has a right to those 15 weeks of benefits. That's different from parental benefits, which are for providing care to the child. So if, unfortunately, there were a stillbirth or the child were to pass away, the parents would not have access to parental benefits in that case, but only to the maternity benefits—all 15 weeks.

The mother or parents might be eligible for sickness benefits subsequently if they were to receive a note from a doctor to indicate they were incapable of working at that time as a result of their current capacity or lack of capacity.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

One option the preventive withdrawal program allows for is another job that poses less risk and harm to the pregnant worker. If the employer offers her a part-time job because its operational requirements are such that it cannot offer her another full-time position, do any potential accommodations exist for the future mother?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

A very quick answer, please.

[Judith Buchanan, Director, Labour Standards and Wage Earner Protection Program, Compliance, Operations and Program Development, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development]

We would have to get back to you on that.

We would have to get back to you on that. I'm not sure how that would be viewed under the Labour Code. It does entitle the worker to accommodations. However, in terms of how a part-time job would affect EI benefits, we would have to look at that issue together and get back to you with an answer.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

I would appreciate it if you would send the answer to the committee.

[Judith Buchanan]

Yes, of course.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Excellent. Thank you.

I'm going to Pam for a very short amount of time.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Okay.

It's nice to see you again, and thank you for being here.

I've been contacted by ECEs, early childhood educators, in my riding that one of the issues they run into is that they are laid off because they are on contract and have to apply for EI over the summer. When women are pregnant and delivering during that period when they're not working, it creates challenges for market assessment and all kinds of things when they do in turn go on maternity leave. They face challenges because of the timing. A male who takes the paternity leave and is an ECE doesn't run into that.

I'm just wondering, if this bill were passed, if part of the review for a national strategy could also include looking at those unique situations and applying a gender lens to them. Men and women are being treated differently when they're early childhood educators. Are you familiar with that issue?

[Andrew Brown]

I don't have a lot of specifics on that issue, but I think what you are raising is that there is a lot of complexity in the EI program, including when people combine different kinds of benefits, and that this does relate to people who are taking either maternity and parental benefits and may also be seeking to access regular benefits for job loss. What we are flagging, then, is the situation that more women are taking maternity and parental benefits and would be impacted by the rules that relate to combinations of maternity, parental, and regular benefits.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

I'm just thinking, if there is a review done of the maternity benefit strategy, could something such as that be included as well?

[Andrew Brown]

It's certainly one of the sorts of things that we are continually looking at in the program: how benefits can be taken in combination.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Ms. Dhillon, you have about one minute.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

In your opinion, in what way could the Employment Insurance Act be amended to allow for more flexible EI maternity benefits?

[Andrew Brown]

Beyond what was just announced yesterday, which was to allow women to be able to start sooner. So I think from the perspective of flexibility, it's usually a question of about when they can start and end and who else can share the benefits. In terms of flexibility, that's sort of the space we're in.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

What steps could the federal government take in collaboration with provinces and territories to facilitate greater accommodation of pregnancy-related needs in the workplace?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Please keep your answer very brief.

[Judith Buchanan]

There was another announcement in the budget yesterday from the Minister of Employment about allowing for more flexible work arrangements. In my mind, this is also something that would help working families in making different arrangements, and there are also some intended new leaves that should further support families and their needs.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much, everybody.

Thank you, Mr. Brown and Ms. Buchanan. I didn't recognize you when you were there, so I apologize.

We have one quick housekeeping thing to do. First of all, the lists of witnesses for this study are due today at 5 p.m. We're going to see witnesses on two days—April 4, and Thursday, April 6—and then we will do clause-by-clause on April 13.

The big thing today is just to remember to get your list of witnesses in to the clerk by five o'clock, please. Thank you.

Thank you, everyone; and thanks again to all those who made today possible.

The meeting is adjourned.