MAKE CERB PAYMENT EVEN IF CLAIMANT QUIT, STAFF TOLD
DOUBT CAST ON ABILITY TO RECOVER FRAUDULENT CLAIMS AS NORMAL CHECKS DEFERRED
Among the few requirements for receiving a $2,000-a-month emergency payment from the federal government is that claimants have been put out of work by the pandemic. Being eligible for regular employment insurance (EI) or having exhausted earlier EI benefits can also qualify them.
But a new memo to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) staff processing the applications says they should approve claims even if the person might have quit voluntarily or been fired for misconduct.
Adjudication of what it refers to as “contentious issues” is to be deferred until later, says the note, which was viewed by the National Post.
Sources familiar with the process say the same approach applies to Canadians who had left work or taken a leave of absence and travelled abroad before the pandemic. Even if that trip outside the country was preplanned, they can still get CERB from when the benefit became active in mid-March.
It’s another indication that Ottawa is at least postponing the usual checks and balances for such programs as it strives to disburse billions of dollars to unemployed Canadians quickly and widely.
When there is evidence of potential abuse, an earlier memo, also viewed by the Post, said employees should issue payments and not refer cases for investigation.
The government says it will pursue unwarranted or fraudulent payments later, and is monitoring for possible abuse. But some people knowledgeable about the system are skeptical.
“I highly doubt any money will be recovered from those files since there is no misrepresentation from the claimants,” said one source about the latest directive dealing with the reasons people became jobless. “We have the information and it is our decision to pay, so I don’t see on what basis we could ask these people to pay back.”
The situation is corroding morale among the ESDC employees processing CERB applications, who normally are eager to root out ineligible or fraudulent claims, said another source.
Neither is authorized to speak about internal matters and asked not to be named.
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough has said the CERB program was designed to get payments out as quickly as possible during an extraordinary crisis, and that the government will claw back improper payments later.
An ESDC official defended the latest directive on Wednesday, saying that many Canadians who have temporarily quit their jobs did so as a result of the pandemic lockdown, in order to look after school-aged children or unwell family members.
And in the first step of applying for CERB, they have to pledge that they are eligible, he noted.
The official, who was not authorized to respond on the record, said someone who has been fired for cause would normally not qualify for benefits, but records of employment that contain such information are not needed to receive CERB.
It’s a softer process than usually followed with EI, but the government always knew that would be the case because of the vast number of applications, said the official.
The CERB pays $500 a week during an initial fourmonth stretch for people “who have stopped working because of reasons related to COVID-19,” those eligible for regular EI or whose EI benefits were to run out between Dec. 29 and this Oct. 3. They must have made at least $5,000 in 2019 or the previous 12 months.
Those who “quit their job voluntarily” are not eligible.
The government says it has processed applications from almost 8 million Canadians and paid out $30 billion so far.
The latest memo, called “COVID-19 and deferral of adjudication on an EI Emergency Response Benefit claim,” deals in part with applications from individuals whose records or claim indicates they quit or were fired.
While vetting EI can often involve interviews with workers or their employers — called fact-finding — the document says “no fact-finding is required.”
If the client’s records indicate they left work voluntarily, the agent is to select the phrase “voluntary leaving — just cause shown” on the record of decision, the memo says. If the claimant was dismissed, the staff person indicates the client is eligible for benefits and “misconduct not proven,” say the instructions.
“When the agent determines the client qualifies for an EI Emergency Response Benefit claim, adjudication is deferred on all contentious issues,” the guidelines indicate. One source familiar with the process said that statement is nonsense, since one of the requirements of the program is to be unemployed due to the pandemic.
A separate memo deals in part with claims made from outside of Canada. Many of those are people stranded abroad because of travel restrictions, but others had chosen to quit or take leaves of absence to travel before the pandemic, the sources say.
“Should a disentitlement be imposed for out of Canada on EI Emergency Response Benefit claims?” it asks. “No. ... The information must be recorded on file but no disentitlements should be imposed.”