The Exceptions to the Seven-Day Rule
The authorities have clarified that the seven-day rule for an interruption of earnings does not apply in certain cases. For instance, it does not apply to:
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Real Estate Agents
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The authorities have specified that an interruption of earnings only occurs when a real estate agent’s licence is surrendered, revoked or suspended
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This is applicable unless the employee stops working because of:
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Illness
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Injury
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Quarantine
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Pregnancy
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The need to care for a newborn or a child placed for the purposes of adoption
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The need to provide care or support to a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death or,
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The need for a parent to care for a critically ill child
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Therefore, if employees stop working for any other reason, the authorities would not consider them as having experienced an interruption of earnings as long as the contract continues
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For example, if an employee stops working because of a leave of absence or a vacation, the authorities would not consider them as having experienced an interruption of earnings as long as the contract continues
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For more details on the process for completing Records of Employment (ROEs) for real estate agents, officers would need to go through the section titled ‘Real Estate Agents’ given in Section 3 on the website of Service Canada
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Employees who have non-standard work schedules
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Some employers typically enter into agreements with their employees for schedules that permit alternating periods of work and leave
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As such, some employees end up having non-standard work schedules
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These employees could typically comprise firefighters, healthcare workers and factory workers
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Therefore, even if these types of employees do not have scheduled work for seven successive days or more, they will not experience an interruption of earnings in the eyes of the authorities
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For instance, consider a situation where a firefighter works for four successive 24-hour days (that amount to 96 hours of insurable work) and then has 10 consecutive days off
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In this situation, the firefighter would not have any interruption of earnings even though the firefighter has no work for more than seven successive days – this is especially so because the contract continues to remain valid even during the off days of the firefighter
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Similarly, consider a situation where a miner works for 14 successive 12-hour days (that amount to 168 hours of insurable work) and then has seven consecutive days off
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In this scenario, the miner will not have any interruption of earnings despite having seven days off because the contract continues to remain valid even during the off days of the miner
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Commission Salespeople
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Some employees exist whose earnings mainly comprise commissions
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For these people, an interruption of earnings only occurs when the employment contract is terminated
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This is applicable unless the employee stops working because of:
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Illness
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Injury
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Quarantine
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Pregnancy
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The need to care for a newborn or a child placed for the purposes of adoption
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The need to provide care or support to a family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death or,
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The need for a parent to care for a critically ill child
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Therefore, if employees stop working for any other reason, the authorities would not consider them as having experienced an interruption of earnings as long as the contract continues
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For example, if an employee stops working because of a leave of absence or a vacation, the authorities would not consider them as having experienced an interruption of earnings as long as the contract continues
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For more details on the process for completing Records of Employment (ROEs) for commission salespeople, officers would need to go through the section titled ‘Commission Salespeople’ given in Section 3 on the website of Service Canada
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When Do Employers Need to Issue Records of Employment (ROEs)?
Some employees might intend to file a claim for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, while others may not. Regardless of the decision the employee takes, the employers would need to issue Records of Employment (ROEs):
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When Service Canada requests for one or,
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Each time an employee experiences an interruption of earnings
Note:
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Employers would need to ensure that they only issue Records of Employment (ROEs) based on the instructions provided by Service Canada
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Situations could arise where employers need to lay off a large number of employees such as when a plant is closing
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In this scenario, they would need to contact Service Canada for obtaining advice on issuing Records of Employment (ROEs)
- For more details, the employers would need to call the Employer Contact Centre at 1-800-367-5693 (TTY: 1-855-881-9874)
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