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

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.

Marginal note:Suspension of benefits

• 18 (1) Labour adjustment benefits are not payable to a qualified employee notified of a decision pursuant to subsection 16(1) from the week during which the notice is sent to the qualified employee to the week during which any subsequent notice of decision pursuant to subsection 16(5) to revoke that decision is sent to the qualified employee.

• Marginal note:Termination of benefits

  (2) Labour adjustment benefits are not payable to a qualified employee after the week during which he attains sixty-five years of age.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Labour adjustment benefits shall cease with the payment for the week in which the qualified employee dies.

Marginal note:Initial amount of benefit

• 19 (1) The initial amount of labour adjustment benefit payable to a qualified employee is a weekly amount equal to sixty per cent of his average weekly insurable earnings, which amount shall be rounded to the nearest cent or, if the amount is equidistant from two cents, to the greater thereof.

• Marginal note:Work sharing agreements

  (2) For the purposes of this Act, the weekly insurable earnings of a qualified employee for any week of employment under a work sharing agreement approved pursuant to section 24 of the Employment Insurance Act is the lesser of

  • (a) the total amount the employee would have earned for that week if he had worked a full working week for the employer he worked for under the agreement, and

  • (b) the maximum weekly insurable earnings, as determined pursuant to that Act, for that week.

Marginal note:Annual adjustment

• 20 (1) The weekly amount of labour adjustment benefit payable to a qualified employee shall be adjusted each year so that the amount of the benefit payable to the employee for a week in any year following the year in which his effective date of lay-off falls is equal to the amount obtained

  • (a) by multiplying

    • (i) the initial amount of the benefit as determined pursuant to subsection 19(1)

    by

    • (ii) the ratio, rounded to the nearest one-thousandth or, where the ratio is equidistant from two one-thousandths, to the greater thereof, that the Pension Index for that following year bears to the Pension Index for the year in which the effective date of lay-off occurs; and

  • (b) by rounding the product obtained under paragraph (a) to the nearest cent or, if the product is equidistant from two cents, to the greater thereof.

• Marginal note:Pension Index

  (2) In this section, the Pension Index for any year means the Pension Index for that year calculated in accordance with section 43 of the Canada Pension Plan.

Marginal note:Deductions

• 21 (1) There shall be deducted from the weekly amount of labour adjustment benefit payable to a qualified employee an amount equal to

  • (a) sixty cents for each dollar that is received by the employee as

    • (i) vacation pay, severance pay, salary, wages or other remuneration, including gratuities but excluding any worker compensation benefits or other disability payments, in respect of any office or employ- ment continued or commenced after the commencement of such benefit, or

    • (ii) income from any business carried on by him, either alone or with others, that is continued or commenced after the commencement of such benefit,

    and that is allocated to that week in accordance with the regulations; and

  • (b) one dollar for each dollar that is received by the employee as

    • (i) benefits under an employer pension plan earned by the employee as a result of any office or employment,

    • (ii) a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan or a provincial pension plan,

    • (iii) benefits under Part I of the Employment Insurance Act,

    • (iv) [Repealed, 1996, c. 23, s. 181]

    • (v) vacation pay, severance pay, salary, wages or other remuneration, including gratuities but excluding any worker compensation benefits or other disability payments, in respect of any office or employment terminated prior to the commencement of such benefit, or

    • (vi) income from any business carried on by him, either alone or with others, that is terminated prior to the commencement of such benefit,

    and that is allocated to that week in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (2) In subsection (1),

  business

  business includes a profession, calling, trade, manufacture or undertaking of any kind and an adventure or concern in the nature of trade, but does not include an office or employment; (entreprise)

  employment

  employment means the position of an individual in the service of some other person, including Her Majesty or a foreign state or sovereign; (emploi)

  office

  office means the position of an individual entitling him to a fixed or ascertainable stipend or remuneration and includes any office the incumbent of which is elected by popular vote or is elected or appointed in a representative capacity and also includes the position of a corporation director. (charge)

Marginal note:Deemed benefit

• 22 (1) Where a qualified employee to whom labour adjustment benefits are payable has, after his effective date of lay-off and before the commencement of those benefits, received a lump sum payment, under or in respect of an employer pension plan, earned by the employee as a result of an office or employment in the Canadian establishment from which he was laid off, the payment is deemed to be a benefit referred to in subparagraph 21(1)(b)(i).

• Marginal note:Report of earnings

  (2) A qualified employee to whom labour adjustment benefits are being paid shall submit to the Commission a report, in such form and manner and at such times as the Commission may direct, setting out the amounts received by the employee in the period to which the report relates as remuneration, income, benefits, pension or allowance described in paragraph 21(1)(a) or (b) and such other information as the Commission may require.

• Marginal note:Failure to comply

  (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a qualified employee who fails to comply with a requirement 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 under subsection (2) if in its opinion the circumstances warrant the waiver or variation for the benefit of a qualified employee in a particular case or class or group of cases.

Marginal note:Benefits not assignable

23 Labour adjustment benefits are not capable of being assigned, charged, attached, anticipated or given as security and, subject to subsections 22(1) and 26(1), any transaction purporting to assign, charge, attach, anticipate or give as security any of those benefits is void.

Administration and Enforcement

Marginal note:False or misleading statements

• 24 (1) Where the Board becomes aware of facts establishing, in its opinion, that a person, in relation to an application under section 11, has made a statement or representation that he knew to be false or misleading or has participated or acquiesced in the making of such a statement or representation, the Board may revoke the certification of any employee named in the application.

• Marginal note:Notification of intention

  (2) Before the Board revokes the certification of an employee pursuant to subsection (1), it shall notify the employee in writing of its intention to do so.

• Marginal note:Right to make written representations

  (3) An employee who is notified pursuant to subsection (2) may within thirty days after the date of the notice, or within such further time as the Board may allow, make representations in writing to the Board with respect to the proposed revocation of his certification.

• Marginal note:Notification of decision

  (4) Where the Board revokes the certification of an employee pursuant to subsection (1), it shall notify the employee and the Commission in writing of the revocation.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a qualified employee whose certification is revoked pursuant to subsection (1) is not qualified at any time before or after the revocation to receive labour adjustment benefits by virtue of the revoked certification.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (6) No certification shall be revoked pursuant to subsection (1) more than seventy-two months after the date on which the false or misleading statement was made.

• Marginal note:Recertification not precluded

  (7) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing an employee whose certification is revoked pursuant to subsection (1) from re-applying to, and being certified by, the Board under section 11.