Vol. 142, No. 24 — June 14, 2008

Regulations Amending the Employment Insurance Regulations

Statutory authority

Employment Insurance Act

Sponsoring department

Department of Human Resources and Skills Development

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

The purpose of amending section 55.1 of the Employment Insurance Regulations is to support Service Canada’s plan to modernize and render more efficient the employer reporting systems that support various integrity programs. The amended Regulations will, as well, clarify reporting obligations of employers who choose to participate in Employment Insurance (EI) early detection and intervention programs.

Description and rationale

Section 55.1 of the Employment Insurance Regulations was put in place in December 2004 (SOR/2004-312) to address provisions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) with respect to the disclosure of personal information which came into effect on January 1, 2004. Its purpose is to reaffirm Service Canada’s lawful authority to collect and employer authority to provide current employee information to support EI verification programs administered by Service Canada.

EI early detection and intervention programs play an important role in protecting the integrity of the EI program and are operated with the support of both employee and employer groups. By matching hiring information (new hires/recalls) received from employer participants against the EI claim load file, the EI program can more readily identify cases where a claimant is in receipt of EI benefits while working and has not reported or misreported their earnings. Labour groups appreciate that early intervention leads to early detection and reduced overpayments for claimants, while participating employers appreciate the reduction in paper burden with respect to requests for payroll information they would otherwise receive during a claim audit.

The revised amendment would modernize EI early detection and prevention reporting systems and would bring to an end the current practice of requiring the more than 20 000 employer participants to submit monthly, paper-based reports to Service Canada by regular mail. Rather, employer participants will submit reports through a more efficient, secure Internet-based reporting system. Replacing the paper-based reporting system supports a broader government-wide Paper Burden Reduction Initiative. The phase-in of the new electronic system is anticipated to begin by fall 2008. Once the Regulations come into effect, the existing paper-based system will be discontinued. The government will see some savings by moving from paper to electronic processing because there will no longer be the need to open envelopes and manually input information into a database.

Revising section 55.1 of the Employment Insurance Regulations is a technical amendment that more precisely identifies the employee information that employer participants who choose to participate in early detection programs will be required to submit electronically. In this regard, upon the Regulations coming into force, employer participants shall provide electronically on a monthly basis in respect of their employees,

(a) dates of commencement of employment;

(b) periods of employment; and

(c) amounts earned during employment.

Consultation

The proposed amendment was prepared in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Industry. Modernization of the reporting systems was developed by Service Canada with the support of participating employers.

Service Canada’s consultations to date with employer participants indicate the majority of participants are willing to convert from a paper-based reporting system to a secure Internet-based electronic system.

The proposed Regulations have received approval in principle from the Employment Insurance Commission.

Implementation and enforcement

A comprehensive transition strategy has been developed by Service Canada to ensure that participating employers in the EI early detection and intervention programs can easily switch to the new electronic reporting system. The strategy includes proactive communication directly with all program participants, a transition period and the establishment of a call centre to assist employers during the conversion process. The systems development costs and communications with employers can be accomplished within existing departmental resources.

Judith Richardson
Senior Policy Officer
Employment Insurance Policy
Skills and Employment Branch
Human Resources and Social Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, 3rd Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Telephone: 819-994-4455
Fax: 819-934-6631