Labour Adjustment Benefits Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. L-1)

Certification by Board

Marginal note:Application for certification

• 11 (1) Any employee who has been laid off may apply, directly or through an employer, trade union or any person, to the Board for certification that he is eligible to apply to the Commission for labour adjustment benefits.

• Marginal note:Form and content of application

  (2) An application under subsection (1) shall be submitted in such form and manner as the Board may direct and shall set out the name of the employee in respect of whom the application is being made and such other information as the Board may require.

• Marginal note:Investigation

  (3) On receipt of an application under subsection (1), the Board shall carry out such investigation as it considers necessary for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the employee named in the application to apply to the Commission for labour adjustment benefits and for that purpose the Board shall determine the date the employee was laid off.

• Marginal note:Decision on application

  (4) On completion of its investigation under subsection (3), the Board shall determine whether or not the employee is eligible to apply to the Commission for labour adjustment benefits and shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision.

• Marginal note:Certification

  (5) Where the Board determines pursuant to subsection (4) that an employee is eligible to apply to the Commission for labour adjustment benefits, it shall so certify in writing to the Commission.

• Marginal note:Content of certification

  (6) Certification under subsection (5) shall be submitted in such form and manner as the Commission may direct and shall set out the name of the employee certified, his effective date of lay-off and such other information respecting the lay-off of the employee as the Commission may require.

Marginal note:Requirements for certification

12 The Board may certify that an employee named in an application under section 11 is eligible to apply to the Commission for labour adjustment benefits if

• (a) he was laid off;

• (b) the Canadian establishment from which he was laid off was, at the time of his lay-off, part of a designated industry;

• (c) the number of employees at the Canadian establishment referred to in paragraph (b) was reduced as a result of lay-offs, in any twelve month period including the employee’s effective date of lay-off, by at least ten per cent or fifty employees, whichever is the lesser; and

• (d) his lay-off resulted from the economic adjustment referred to in subsection 3(2) or (3), as the case may be.

Application to Commission

Marginal note:Eligible applicants

• 13 (1) An employee who has been certified under section 11 may apply to the Commission for labour adjustment benefits.

• Marginal note:Form and content of application

  (2) An application under subsection (1) shall be submitted in such form and manner as the Commission may direct and shall set out such information as the Commission may require.

• Marginal note:Attendance

  (3) For the purposes of this section, the Commission may require an applicant to attend at a suitable time and place in order to make an application in person or to provide information required under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Investigation

  (4) On receipt of an application under subsection (1), the Commission shall carry out such investigation as it considers necessary for the purpose of determining whether or not the applicant is qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits.

• Marginal note:Decision on application

  (5) Subject to subsection (6), on completion of its investigation under subsection (4), the Commission shall determine whether or not the applicant is qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits and shall notify him in writing of its decision.

• Marginal note:Reference to Social Security Tribunal

  (6) The Commission may at any time within 14 days after receiving an application under subsection (1) refer the application or a question arising from it to the General Division of the Social Security Tribunal for a decision on it.

• Marginal note:Proceedings before Social Security Tribunal

  (7) If an application or question is referred to the General Division of the Social Security Tribunal under subsection (6), the Tribunal must conduct its proceedings in respect of that application or question in accordance with the procedure for appeals under the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

• Marginal note:Failure to comply with requirements

  (8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an applicant who fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (2) or (3) that has not been waived under subsection (9) is not qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits as long as such failure to comply continues.

• Marginal note:Waiver or variation of requirement

  (9) The Commission may waive or vary any requirement under subsection (2) or (3) if in its opinion the circumstances warrant such waiver or variation for the benefit of the applicant in a particular case or class or group of cases.

Qualification for Benefits

Marginal note:Qualifications for benefits

• 14 (1) The Commission may determine that an employee who has been certified under section 11 is qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits if

  • (a) the employee is a Canadian citizen resident in Canada or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;

  • (b) he has had at least ten years of employment in the relevant designated industry in the fifteen years immediately preceding his effective date of lay-off;

  • (c) he was, on his effective date of lay-off, not less than fifty-four years of age but under sixty-five years of age;

  • (d) the employee has claimed and exhausted all benefits under Part I of the Employment Insurance Act to which the employee was entitled subsequent to his or her lay-off;

  • (e) he has not attained sixty-five years of age; and

  • (f) he has no present prospect of employment, whether with or without training or relocation assistance, or has accepted employment with earnings that are less than his average weekly insurable earnings.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the Commission is of the opinion that an employee certified under section 11 who would be qualified under subsection (1) to receive labour adjustment benefits but for the requirements set out in paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) or either paragraph will suffer severe financial hardship unless he receives those benefits, the Commission may determine that the employee is qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits if

  • (a) he meets the requirements set out in paragraphs (1)(a), (d), (e) and (f);

  • (b) the aggregate of

    • (i) his age on his effective date of lay-off, and

    • (ii) his years of employment in the relevant designated industry preceding his effective date of lay-off

    equals eighty or more; and

  • (c) he was, on his effective date of lay-off, under sixty-five years of age.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where an employee certified under section 11 would be qualified under subsection (1) to receive labour adjustment benefits but for the requirement set out in paragraph (1)(b), the Commission may determine that the employee is qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits if he shows that he is in substantial compliance with the requirement and that he does not meet such requirement by reason only of illness, disability, lay-off or any other good cause whatever.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (4) In this section,

  relevant designated industry

  relevant designated industry, in respect of an employee, means the designated industry that included, at the time of his lay-off, the Canadian establishment from which the employee was laid off; (secteur d’activités désigné en question)

  year of employment

  year of employment, in respect of an employee, means a year in which the employee was paid for at least one thousand hours of employment. (année d’emploi)

Marginal note:Employment in other designated industries

15 Where the Canadian establishment from which an employee was laid off was, at the time of his lay-off, part of an industry designated generally pursuant to section 3, the Commission shall, in applying paragraph 14(1)(b) or 14(2)(b) in respect of the employee, take into account as employment in that industry any period of employment of that employee preceding his effective date of lay-off in any other industry so designated, whether or not the designation was in force on that date.

Marginal note:Semi-annual review

• 16 (1) The Commission shall at least once every six months review the circumstances of every qualified employee to determine if he continues to meet the requirement set out in paragraph 14(1)(f) and, if the Commission determines he does not meet that requirement, it shall notify him in writing of its decision.

• Marginal note:Attendance

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Commission may require a qualified employee to attend at a suitable time and place in order to provide such information as the Commission may require to conduct its review.

• Marginal note:Failure to comply with requirements

  (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a qualified employee who fails to comply with a requirement to attend under subsection (2) that has not been waived under subsection (4) is not qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits as long as the failure to comply continues.

• Marginal note:Waiver or variation of requirement

  (4) The Commission may waive or vary any requirement to attend under subsection (2) if in its opinion the circumstances warrant the waiver or variation for the benefit of the qualified employee.

• Marginal note:Revocation of decision

  (5) Where the Commission has notified a qualified employee of its decision pursuant to subsection (1) and, on a subsequent review under that subsection, determines that the employee then meets the requirement, the Commission shall revoke its prior decision and notify him in writing of its decision.

Labour Adjustment Benefits

Marginal note:Calculation and payment of benefits

• 17 (1) Where the Commission determines that an employee who has been certified under section 11 is qualified to receive labour adjustment benefits, the Commission shall, in accordance with this Act, calculate the amount of the benefits on a weekly basis in arrears and pay the benefits to the qualified employee every two weeks in arrears.

• Marginal note:Commencement of benefits

  (2) Labour adjustment benefits are payable to a qualified employee commencing on the later of

  • (a) the week immediately following the week the employee’s benefits under Part I of the Employment Insurance Act subsequent to his or her lay-off are exhausted, and

  • (b) the week during which he applies to the Commission under section 13 for labour adjustment benefits.

• Marginal note:Additional benefits

  (3) Where a qualified employee was certified by the Board pursuant to section 11 after the week his or her benefits under Part I of the Employment Insurance Act subsequent to the lay-off were exhausted, in addition to the labour adjustment benefits otherwise payable to the employee under this Act, labour adjustment benefits are payable from the later of

  • (a) that week, and

  • (b) the week during which he applied to the Board for certification

  to the week during which he was so certified.

• Marginal note:Lump sum payment

  (4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the amount of any labour adjustment benefits payable to a qualified employee for a period prior to the first two week period for which payment is made to him in accordance with that subsection shall be paid in one sum.