In the 2017 budget, the Liberal government announced plans to allow new parents greater flexibility over parental leave. To be specific, the proposed changes “will allow parents to choose to receive EI parental benefits over an extended period of up to 18 months at a lower benefit rate of 33 per cent of average weekly earnings”. Those who prefer to take 12 months of parental leave at the existing benefit rate of 55 per cent will continue to be able to do so.
To implement these changes, the government needs to first amend the Employment Insurance Act. The 2017 omnibus budget implementation bill, introduced last Tuesday, seeks to do just that. If adopted, the changes to the Employment Insurance Act would come into force on a day fixed by order of the Governor in Council, which may not be earlier than July 10, 2017
Under our collective agreements, members receive an additional top-up from their employer, which allows them to draw 93% of their salary during the parental leave period. The top-up period is limited to 52 weeks.
This has many members wondering how the proposed changes would affect the top-up of EI benefits. The short answer is: it’s subject to negotiations.
If and when the changes to parental leave take effect, our collective agreements can be re-opened by mutual consent between CAPE and the employer.
In the meantime, we are monitoring developments and collaborating with other unions on a common position.
Last year, Budget 2016 announced that the EI waiting period would be reduced from two weeks to one week. The waiting period was amended in the Employment Insurance Act in June of 2016 by Bill C-15, a budget omnibus bill which implemented a number of reforms outlined in the government’s budget. This particular amendment took effect in January 1, 2017. Benefit periods that began before January 1, 2017 continued to be subject to the two-week waiting period.
