Employment Insurance Advice Needed

[emma008]

My son got EI for about 3 months before finding another job. The job lasted only 6 months and now he is out of work again. Service Canada website says that a person can restart EI again without having to wait the 2 week waiting period. Or, he can terminate it and apply again with the 2 week waiting period. I am wondering if there is any benefit in terminating and re-applying. His latest pay was slightly higher but not much. Does anyone know what he should do?

[lizzie bargain]

Is it possible for him to go in and talk to someone at one of the EI offices. I know getting through on the phone is very challenging. In any case the EI person should be able to explain to him which option is his best choice in his personal situation. For eg does he have enough hrs to start a new claim, has anything changed in how long you collect for since his last claim etc.

[Natalka]

It's been years since my husband was on EI, but he would always use up his last claim before going on a new one, even if the money was lower.

[greeny]

You may no longer need my advice but I'll tell you what my situation was a few years ago. I was on a contract job that lasted 7 months. I applied for EI but found a job less than a month later. I told EI I found a job and my EI payments stopped. The second job was also a contract job that lasted roughly 8 months. I was unsure whether to re-start my old claim or start a new claim. I went to Service Canada and spoke to someone. She told me it's best to always use up your EI hours...so best to re-start the old claim (mind you both jobs paid roughly the same amount). Once I finished up the hours of my old claim (I was still unemployed and looking), she told me I could start a new claim with the hours I earned from the second contract job I had. This way NONE of my EI hours were wasted. I'm glad I listened to her.