Access to EI sickness benefits for staff amidst COVID-19 crisis

The Federal Government has recently announced new measures to support Canadians affected by COVID-19 and placed in quarantine. All dentists, hygienists, and dental workers that attended the Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver on March 6, 2020 have been asked to self-isolate. The Office of the Provincial Health Officer and CDSBC have urged dentists to stop all elective and non-elective dental services indefinitely. Amidst all this chaos, dental practice owners who choose to temporarily close their practice can support their staff by providing access employment insurance (EI) benefits.

Eligible employees that are under quarantine or self-isolation can claim EI sickness benefits up to the lower of $573 per week or 55% of their average weekly insurable earnings. The Government has waved the normal waiting period requirement of 1 week and the requirement for a doctor’s note. This means employees will now be able to access benefits for the days they are in quarantine or self-isolation up to a maximum of 15 weeks.

Employers are required to file a record of employment (ROE) for effected staff with Service Canada. Eligible employees do not need to wait to receive an ROE before they can apply for EI benefits under the new rules. We recommended that all effected employees apply for EI benefits as soon as possible to minimize delays in receiving benefits. The ROE can be sent to Service Canada after the application is finished.

Please contact us at Provision if you are in need of further guidance in the preparation of ROEs or more guidance on the EI sickness benefits.

Click here for more information on the new measures relating to EI sickness benefit.

Preparing ROEs for Effected Staff

If you already have a payroll provider such as ADP, Payworks, Ceridian etc. you can reach out to your payroll provider representative to inquire about ROE preparations for your effected staff. If Provision CPA is your payroll provider, we will prepare these ROEs as part of our service agreement for payroll services once we receive instruction to do so.

If you prepare your payroll in-house and need assistance in preparing ROEs, our team is available to help you. Please reach out to us for more information about our ROE preparation services.

Thank you to our friends at Provision Chartered Professional Accountants for contributing this article. If you have questions or would like to talk to an expert about how this may affect your Canadian business during the COVID-19 pandemic, please reach out to Provision Chartered Professional Accountants by clicking here.

About Provision Group

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