EI Fails Seasonal Workers

As published in today's Free Press

One of the major issues facing our national government in the most recent session of Parliament is the need to reform the Employment Insurance scheme. This need arises mainly due to the massive layoffs in manufacturing in Eastern Canada and the resource-based jobs that have suffered in the West due to a worldwide recession. But equally important is the need to establish a new set of guidelines for seasonal employees like myself, who because of the nature of our work are sometimes forced to play it fast and loose with Employment Insurance regulations.

For the last two years I have worked as an educational assistant at a local high school. The work itself is difficult at times, but also highly rewarding. The primary problem with it is that it is not paid like a full-time job and therefore it can be a difficult way to make a living wage. Fortunately, the government recognizes the value of this work and allows EAs and other seasonal school employees to collect EI benefits; but because the EI system is a one-trick pony our group of workers, once laid-off, are considered to be job-seekers. We are required to pretend as though we are actively looking for work lest we have our benefits denied, or worse, face prosecution. But this provision is entirely unnecessary given that we already have good jobs. The only thing it accomplishes is creating a big hassle for everyone: employers must shuffle through insincere resumes, claimants are barred from conducting other useful pursuits over the breaks and enforcement of these regulations creates a strain on the resources of HRSDC.

I don't have a problem with looking for part-time work over the summer, or even seeking a regular part-time job to supplement my income, but that should be strictly my choice. I am capable of improving my lot in life through hard work if I care to, but I find it illogical to insist I be looking to replace a job I enjoy and am highly qualified for simply to satisfy a mandatory requirement that blindly disregards the nature of my employment.

I wish it were possible to receive a decent full-year contract for my work. My teacher colleagues get monthly paycheques whether or not school is in session. But school divisions are always looking to cut costs and have managed to cook up a good deal with the feds whereby my salary is supplemented by Employment Insurance once the work runs out.

This situation, though far from ideal, ensures that my employer can retain an experienced and professional staff without having to constantly replace workers from a less-qualified base of applicants, for an annual income that would be otherwise far less palatable.

Workers in other fields may or may not have sympathy with my cause, but I would argue that the value of the work EAs produce, though it will not appear as an immediate gain to the GDP, is integral to the smooth functioning of our school system and the children we are preparing for work and life tomorrow.

A major component of our job is establishing relationships with students and creating a consistency in our approach with them so that they can grow and achieve with proper guidance. The idea that we should be out looking for another job over the weeks of Christmas holidays or spring break is completely absurd given these conditions. Perhaps the notion that we seek work over summer is more logical, but the market for summer jobs is dominated by (and often subsidized strictly for) students, and most jobs have already been awarded by the start of our layoff period in July.

A more constructive approach to the dilemma posed by Employment Insurance's regulations would be to allow workers like myself to pursue some kind of volunteer or community work rather than going through the charade of looking for a job we have no intention of undertaking. As a person who works with emotionally troubled and developmentally delayed kids, I have a wealth of skills that could be otherwise employed over the summer months. If I were freed from the demand that I be searching for work I don't need, I could be continuing to contribute to society rather than having to answer bi-weekly questionnaires designed to test whether I deserve the stipend I require or waiting endlessly to talk to an agent when I unintentionally failed to cross a "T" or dot an "I."

The government must create more flexibility within the EI system and provide recipients with more options for receiving benefits than currently exist.

The system itself was developed with a very singular set of assumptions that are often contrary to the circumstances of seasonal workers and even to the workers who do need career change assistance.

The bad news is that this seems like a monumentally difficult task given the great diversity and unpredictability of paid employment within the Canadian economy; the good news is that this is one bit of work that all major federal parties seem intent on tackling.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 20, 2009 A11