Human Resources committee  I'll just add that—

Human Resources committee  For many episodic disabilities, accommodations like scheduling flexibility are extremely low cost.

Human Resources committee  I'm not sure that the denial happens at the window. I think the Service Canada staff might help facilitate the application, but the notice for the ultimate evaluation and denial would probably come by mail or by email. I don't know if there is that opportunity for a face-to-face

Human Resources committee  I'll simply add that, first and foremost, this is about keeping people in their jobs. If this is an episodic disability where they're not necessarily going to be unable to work long term, it's about those shorter periods. This is about keeping them employed. I think that's someth

Human Resources committee  Where the alternative is the added anxiety of not necessarily being able to stay in the job, which exacerbates a neurological condition like epilepsy or like MS to the point where they can't work, I think the positive alternative is, in any scenario, people being able to work. Th

Human Resources committee  I think it's certainly worth the discussion. I think if the response is that we would rather have them unemployed.... I don't think that's a response they would give. It's also worth remembering that they already paid in, that this isn't them using a program that they haven't alr

Human Resources committee  Going forward to the actuarial tables in the long term...yes.

Human Resources committee  Yes. I do think that would be a reasonable conversation to have. If the longer term economic outcome is people staying employed and the economic benefits that go along with that require a slight adjustment to the amount people are paying into EI, longer term, that's a good conver

Human Resources committee  In Ontario—I can only really speak to Ontario on this point—whether or not it's relatively easy to access a neurologist depends on what part of the province you're in. In northern Ontario, there are some difficulties with epileptologists in particular. I don't think any neurologi

Human Resources committee  I think it might be helpful to think of it less in terms of weeks and more in terms of days. Fifteen weeks is 75 working days, so as Julie mentioned, if you're missing one day of work per week but you're able to work the other four, having a system where your claim stays open and

Human Resources committee  I agree with all of the comments made so far. From the epilepsy perspective, the resources are there in terms of information. Epilepsy organizations across the country have developed really excellent resources and tools to inform employers about episodic disabilities—epilepsy in

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning. I would like to thank the HUMA committee for investigating the needs of people living with episodic disabilities and inviting me to participate today. I will be speaking primarily about epilepsy, but many of the issues I'll mention are common