EI waiting period waived for COVID-19 quarantine

Summary#

These final regulations change the Employment Insurance Regulations to let people in quarantine get EI sickness benefits faster during the COVID‑19 situation. They let eligible claimants skip the normal one‑week waiting period and, in some cases, provide a simple declaration instead of a medical certificate. The change came into force on registration (March 11, 2020) and is time‑limited to 180 days (about six months).

What it does#

• Adds a temporary rule (section 40.1) to the Employment Insurance Regulations that applies immediately on registration.
• Lets a claimant give a signed declaration saying they were:
  • placed in quarantine under federal or provincial law;
  • placed in quarantine by a public health official for public safety; or
  • recommended to quarantine by a public health official and asked to do so by their employer, a doctor, a nurse, or another person in authority.
• Allows the EI program to waive the normal one‑week waiting period for sickness benefits when the claimant otherwise qualifies for EI (for example, because of an interruption of earnings).
• Removes the need for a medical certificate for the quarantine period covered by this rule. If the claimant later becomes ill, a medical certificate would still be required for continued benefits.
• The temporary rule will be repealed after 180 days (the instrument includes a delayed coming‑into‑force for that repeal).

Who's affected#

• Workers who are eligible for EI sickness benefits and who are placed in quarantine because of COVID‑19. (To be eligible for EI sickness benefits, claimants generally need sufficient hours of insured work, for example 600 hours in the qualifying period.)
• People who do not have paid sick leave from their employer. Those who already get employer‑paid sick leave already had the waiting period waived under existing rules.
• Employers and public health officials indirectly — because making benefits easier to access aims to reduce pressure on people to choose work over quarantine.
• If it is unclear whether a particular person qualifies under the usual EI rules, eligibility questions will still need to be decided by the EI program.

Why it matters#

• It reduces the financial incentive for someone to break quarantine and go to work. That helps limit the spread of COVID‑19.
• It speeds up access to income for quarantined workers who lack employer‑paid sick leave by removing the one‑week delay and easing medical documentation requirements.
• The government estimated an illustrative cost of up to $573,000 if 1,000 claimants each received the top weekly benefit of $573; actual costs depend on how many people claim.
• The change is temporary and was introduced as part of the federal response to the public health emergency declared for COVID‑19.