Canadian parents not eligible for EI

By: Six Cent Press

Canadian parents might not qualify for employment insurance after going on a parental leave.

The current policy involves an evaluation based on a certain number of hours worked during the past year of employment.

The policy does not allow for parents to use the same work weeks for maternity leave and EI. According to CBC Montreal, this is leaving many parents who spent those weeks on a parent leave ineligible for benefits.

Jennifer Beeman, a coordinator with the Council for Women’s Access to Work believes the policy goes against the rights women have fought for for decades.

Beeman believes that maternity leave does not mean the same thing as being unemployed. Beeman says that being on maternity leave was harder for her than actually going to work.

 A current estimate gathered by Ed Canning, an employment lawyer with Ross McBride law firm states that roughly 2,000 women will not qualify for EI every year because of maternity leave.