EI Claim, how long should it take?

[Brynhilde]

Tip for when you call EI... if you finally get past the busy tone and get on.. wait until after the woman says "Service Canada EI whatever..." press 0.. if they say they cannot transfer you, press 1 and you will be at the beginning again. Keep repeating press 0, then 1 if you are not getting transferred. That way, you stay on the line without having to call back and hang up again.

[tjthemanto]

EI is a joke ..lot of people who have paid into the system for years ..find it hard to get EI due to lot of excuses , technicalities & small things here & there when they actually get laid off .

[mydusty]

EI is a joke ..lot of people who have paid into the system for years ..find it hard to get EI due to lot of excuses , technicalities & small things here & there when they actually get laid off .

My DH had this problem. He has been working for 27 years straight, never made an EI claim. (paid into it, of course, but never had a claim) Then due to no fault of his own, he lost his job and had to file a claim. Talk about the run around! We kept calling and calling and even went to to local EI office to no avail. , after 3 1/2 months of waiting, we finally placed a call to local MP's office. We got money a week later. So sad the way this system works!

[tjthemanto]

My DH had this problem. He has been working for 27 years straight, never made an EI claim. (paid into it, of course, but never had a claim) Then due to no fault of his own, he lost his job and had to file a claim. Talk about the run around! We kept calling and calling and even went to to local EI office to no avail. , after 3 1/2 months of waiting, we finally placed a call to local MP's office. We got money a week later. So sad the way this system works!

True . When it comes to paying money into the EI you never get the run around ..they cooly ( mandatory ) cut that from your pay cheque every single month , but when its the other way round & its your turn to be now paid all of a sudden the run around starts .

Maybe we should also give them the run around when they try to deduct EI & CPP payments from our pay cheques each month

[Freestuffrighthere]

True . When it comes to paying money into the EI you never get the run around ..they cooly ( mandatory ) cut that from your pay cheque every single month , but when its the other way round & its your turn to be now paid all of a sudden the run around starts .

Maybe we should also give them the run around when they try to deduct EI & CPP payments from our pay cheques each month

That is so true.

[Brynhilde]

Maybe we should also give them the run around when they try to deduct EI & CPP payments from our pay cheques each month

[oceanblue]

very true...

Tip for when you call EI... if you finally get past the busy tone and get on.. wait until after the woman says "Service Canada EI whatever..." press 0.. if they say they cannot transfer you, press 1 and you will be at the beginning again. Keep repeating press 0, then 1 if you are not getting transferred. That way, you stay on the line without having to call back and hang up again.

[freefreefree]

True . When it comes to paying money into the EI you never get the run around ..they cooly ( mandatory ) cut that from your pay cheque every single month , but when its the other way round & its your turn to be now paid all of a sudden the run around starts .

Maybe we should also give them the run around when they try to deduct EI & CPP payments from our pay cheques each month

[Ontarioman]

Well, I am hope they decide something soon on my claim, its is getting rediclous at best, I am hoping I never have to use EI again after this year! I think I am getting
screwed over by EI am really tempted to say the H$$L with it and just cancel the claim all together, If I get laid off ever again in the future, I am hoping that I have enough saved up in the bank to not even us the system or even better a full time job. I will be calling them again this week, I am sick of dealing with them and its pathetic at best. Might have to go see the local Federal MP if nothing is decided soon.

[tjthemanto]

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/a...important?bn=1


Your call is not important

Published On Sat Dec 17 , 2011






Stuart McCabe waited 46 days for his employment insurance money to arrive. It was supposed to take 28 days. During that time the Oshawa father, who has been on paternal leave since Nov. 1, missed his mortgage, car insurance and hydro payments.


With Christmas looming, McCabe had no money and a $400 slap in the face in the form of nonsufficient fund penalties for those missed payments. So he called Service Canada to find out where his money was — the automated message told him to call back later. So he did. Twenty times. More than 50 per cent of Service Canada callers in late September also heard that same message.



It’s a familiar scene across the country as massive layoffs at Service Canada have led to delays in employment insurance processing, which leaves people like McCabe frustrated and angry — especially when it is so difficult to get through to a real person at Service Canada.
This comes as 19,000 Canadians lost their jobs in November, increasing the unemployment rate to 7.4 per cent, which also adds demand for employment insurance.



Call centre data obtained by Rodger Cuzner, Liberal MP for Cape Breton-Canso, through an order paper shows the difficulty getting through to an agent. As of September, only 32 per cent of calls were answered within three minutes. That is down from 42 per cent last year and 53 per cent the year before that.


“I was furious and the agent on the phone told me that there were now four people answering calls when there used to be 17,” McCabe said. “So it’s not their fault.”
So McCabe called Diane Finley, the minister of Human Resources and Skills Development who is responsible for employment insurance.


“I was adamant that I wanted to speak with Diane Finley personally. I wanted her to write me a cheque for all the banking fees I’ve incurred,” McCabe said. “I’ve got a wife and three kids and I thought we were going to be sitting by the fire in the basement for heat.”


Many Canadians live paycheque to paycheque. A poll commissioned by the Canadian Payroll Association a few months ago found that 57 per cent of respondents couldn't deal with a one-week delay in their pay.



In August, Finley announced cuts to Service Canada which included the elimination of 98 employment insurance processing centres. There will be 1,200 fewer Service Canada workers according to John Gordon, president of Public Service Alliance of Canada.



The ministry confirmed the job losses, but wouldn’t reveal how many. Finley maintains that the delays in processing employment insurance claims are seasonal and not related to the job cuts. It’s all part of the government’s strategy to balance the budget with the goal of saving $495 million within Service Canada by 2014.



“With continuous improvements to the way that we do business, such as increased automation, improved online services, and a nationally-managed workload distribution, Service Canada will be able to manage service demands in a more cost-effective and efficient way,” said Alison Queen, Finley’s press secretary.


After McCabe complained to Finley’s office, his payment was processed the next day. He still wants to be reimbursed for his banking fees, but that won’t happen, said NDP human resources critic Jean Crowder.


“Good luck. There isn’t a mechanism for the government to pay you for costs that are incurred because of their delays in claims processing,” Crowder said. “What are you going to do, take them to small claims court?”


Service Canada employees on the other end of the line are also frustrated. And those are the ones who still have jobs. The employment insurance call centre in Glace Bay, N.S., is closing and layoffs at the employment insurance processing facility in Sydney, N.S., will leave little more than a skeleton staff. Furious workers took to the streets in both cities last weekend to protest the cuts.
Finley, in a letter to the editor of The Guardian, a P.E.I. newspaper, said there aren’t any delays in employment insurance processing.


“When it comes to EI, our annual service standard is to process 80 per cent of applications within 28 days,” she wrote. “We are currently averaging 23 days for speed of the first payment. We are actually exceeding our target for the majority of Canadians.”
However, that statistic is misleading, as it accounts for first payments and non-payment notification, which can occur for a variety of reasons, including clerical errors.


That’s what happened with McCabe’s claim. He had a problem with “box 17, ” which deals with vacation pay. His employer input $0. That was wrong. Box 17 should have remained blank. But it took McCabe weeks to find that out because of the clogged telephone service.
Finley says the employment insurance system is being modernized with the goal of expanding automated processing claims to 70 per cent from 44 per cent over three years. McCabe’s claim should have been automated, but a clerical error led to dozens of phone calls and, finally, human intervention.


The minister enraged employment insurance workers in that same letter when she blamed them for the delays.


“Most interesting though is that in the month that we announced we will be overhauling and improving EI processing to better serve Canadians — before any changes were introduced — productivity and performance went from being on par with last year's performance at this time, to the worst in five years,” Finley wrote.


The Canada Employment and Immigration Union, which represents thousands of Service Canada workers, is working on filing a grievance against Finley.


“Finley’s comments have been harmful,” said Don Rogers, president of the union. “Service is worse because there aren’t enough resources. Our workers aren’t lazy, they’re overworked and they’re aren’t enough of them.”

[Brynhilde]

I feel for Stuart and his family.. even being delayed a week or more can really create a disaster for those waiting for what they are entitled to. And sadly, it can be hard to get back on track once you do receive your payments.

I don't buy the BS about how its the holiday season.. some people have been waiting for months to get their claims straightened out. EI is a big joke and $$$ grab for the Government. Same with CPP and other items that come out of paycheques.

[joseff]

it took exactly 7 weeks for my husband to receive his first UI cheque.
It would have been nicer to get it before Christmas since the layoff was totally unexpected and the holiday was super tight, but at least I don't have to worry about January's bills now!

[MikePop]

Like everyone else I'm in the same boat, my i filed on Nov 28th, still have not recieved a penny, called a million times finally got through someone, then they told me my claim will be sent out to an agent and will be compleate within 5 business days, they told me this yesterday, no we will see. It's just very frustrating when you have to buy christmas presents over your credit card. And the bills keep coming. I feel like after I recieve my first cheque I will have nothing left once all the bills are payed.

I just can't belive how bad the system is.

I will keep people here posted if my claim ever gets done, so they have some sort of hope.

[MikePop]

Also forgot to mention my cousin is attending a 5 month course over work which forced him to go on EI, they had actual agents who came to the school to file their EI claims and he will be recieving money within 2 weeks.

Whats this to say about the rest of us, we are not important enough??? That small EI fee was taken off my cheques just like my cousins and just like everyone else here.

What gives...

[Brynhilde]

System is a joke.... yesterday wasn't even a freaking holiday and everyone's payments if they are getting any are delayed by a business day.