Employment Insurance and voluntary leaving
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What is voluntary leaving
For Employment Insurance (EI), voluntary leaving occurs when the employee, and not the employer, took the initiative to end employment. This means that the employee quit or resigned, not that they were laid off by their employer or lost their job due to misconduct.
How voluntary leaving affects eligibility for Employment Insurance benefits
You may receive EI regular benefits if you quit your job on your own initiative as long as you showed just cause for quitting. This means that, considering all the circumstances, quitting was the only reasonable alternative in your case.
If you quit your job without just cause, you cannot receive regular benefits. However, you may still receive sickness, maternity or parental, or caregiving benefits if you qualify.
After quitting your job without just cause, you must work the minimum number of insurable hours required to later receive regular benefits.
Voluntary leaving during workforce reduction
The EI program may offer support if your employer is downsizing, but you should contact us first to ensure that you're covered by the workforce reduction process.
If you voluntarily quit your job after your employer gave you the opportunity to do so as part of a workforce reduction, you may receive regular benefits as long as you qualify. However, your employer must show that the layoff is permanent and that you quitting your job helped preserve a coworker's job.
Authorized leave of absence
Taking a leave of absence without pay, authorized by your employer, is considered voluntary leaving. If the leave is without just cause, you can't receive regular benefits for the entire period of the leave.
However, you may still receive sickness, maternity or parental, or caregiving benefits during this period if you qualify.
Voluntary leaving before end of term or layoff
If you voluntarily quit your job without just cause within 3 weeks of the end of your term or of your layoff (as notified by your employer), you can't receive regular benefits up to the date your employment was expected to end. After that date, you may receive regular benefits if you qualify.
However, you may still receive sickness, maternity or parental, or caregiving benefits within 3 weeks of your employment expected end date if you qualify.
Situations considered just cause
Situations considered just cause for quitting your job could include:
- experiencing sexual or other harassment
- needing to move with your spouse, common-law partner or dependent child to another residence
- facing discrimination on grounds protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act
- working in conditions that are unsafe or harmful to your health
- needing to provide care or support to a child or immediate family member
- having reasonable assurance of another job that will start in the immediate future
- experiencing major changes to your pay or salary
- being required to work excessive overtime, or not being paid for overtime
- experiencing major changes in work duties
- having difficult relations with a supervisor, when you're not mainly responsible for it
- being affected by your employer's practices that break the law
- experiencing discrimination because of membership in a workers' association, organization or union
- being subjected to unreasonable pressure from your employer or coworkers to quit your job
However, just cause is not limited to these situations set out in the Employment Insurance Act , and other circumstances may also be taken into consideration when we make our decision. You can contact us to discuss your specific situation.
Reasonable alternatives to voluntary leaving
You may have an excellent reason for quitting your job, but this doesn't mean that you have just cause to do so. Before deciding to quit your job, you should use any reasonable alternatives available to solve the issue and continue your employment. Reasonable alternatives depend on whether the issue is related to your work environment or your personal situation.
When the issue comes from your work environment, reasonable alternatives could include:
- discussing the situation with your employer or union, and asking for changes or adjustments
- using recourses available under your collective agreement or your employment contract
- considering a transfer to different duties, division or supervisor
- using available legal protection related to labour standards, occupational safety and health, labour rights, or human rights
When the issue comes from an unexpected event (such as losing your means of transportation, having a change in work hours, or no longer having childcare) rather than a personal choice, reasonable alternatives could include:
- asking to change your work schedule (hours or days)
- considering temporarily moving closer to your workplace while you sort out transportation
- carpooling or using public transportation
- making temporary arrangements to work from home while your spouse or partner is away
- asking your family or friends to help with childcare
- requesting a leave of absence until you find a suitable solution
If you quit your job without trying reasonable alternatives, you'll need to explain why when applying for EI benefits.
How we determine if you had just cause for quitting
To determine if you had just cause for quitting your job, we must:
Obtain relevant information from various sources
When applying for EI benefits, you're asked to provide information regarding your voluntary leaving, such as your reasons for quitting your job and the reasonable alternatives you considered before doing so. If we need additional details or explanations, we'll contact you.
We'll also contact your employer to clarify the circumstances surrounding the voluntary leaving, especially when the circumstances are related to the work environment .
In some situations, we may contact other individuals who are familiar with the facts (such as a coworker or team leader) to obtain further information.
Review the facts and make a decision
Once all the relevant facts are obtained , we'll review them and make a decision based on all the information and evidence received. A decision to disqualify you from receiving benefits may be made if the evidence shows that you didn't have just cause for quitting your job.
Our decision is based on the Employment Insurance Act and jurisprudence. If you disagree with our decision, you can request a reconsideration.
Contact us
For more information or if you have any questions, contact us.