Question Period Note: Vaccination and Employment Insurance (EI) Eligibility

Are employees who do not comply with their employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies eligible for EI regular benefits if they are suspended or dismissed from their employment as a result?

• EI regular benefits provide income support to individuals who lose their job through no fault of their own.
• Employees not complying with their employer’s mandatory vaccination policies would typically not be eligible to receive EI regular benefits if they are suspended or dismissed from their employment as a result.
• This would be the case when the employer communicated clearly their vaccination policies and employees knew they could be terminated, suspended or placed on leave without pay if they did not comply.
• Similarly, an employee who has voluntarily quit employment because of a mandatory vaccination policy would usually not be eligible to receive EI regular benefits.

• Each EI application is assessed on a case by case basis.

Exemptions

• If the employer mandatory vaccination policies do not provide exemptions to accommodate employees who have valid reasons for refusing compliance, such as a medical condition or religious beliefs where vaccination is prohibited, these employees could be eligible for EI regular benefits if they meet other qualifying and entitlement conditions.
• A worker’s vaccination status does not impact their entitlement to EI special benefits including EI sickness, maternity, parental, and caregiving benefits.

A number of employers, including the federal public service and some provincial employers, are implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. Employees who do not vaccinate face being suspended or dismissed from their employment, or may choose to quit their jobs rather than comply. Whether these workers would have access to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits depends on several factors and all claims for benefits would be adjudicated based on individual circumstances.

A fundamental principle of the EI program is that claimants must lose their employment through no fault of their own to be eligible for EI regular benefits. The EI legislation does not have any explicit rules around COVID-19 vaccine refusal and EI eligibility. However, it states that a claimant is disqualified (or disentitled) from receiving benefits if they have been suspended or dismissed as a result of their own misconduct, or if they have voluntarily left their employment without just cause.

In this context, if an employee has willfully refused to comply with the vaccination policy and had no valid reasons (i.e., medical condition, religious beliefs) that would justify the refusal, and there is a clear link between the employee’s refusal to comply with the policy and the leave without pay or termination, then there are decisive factors that would support a finding of misconduct (and therefore disqualification from EI benefits for the claimant), provided that:

• The employer has adopted and communicated a clear mandatory vaccination policy to its affected employees;
• The employees are aware that failure to comply with the policy would cause a loss of employment; and
• The application of the policy to the employee is reasonable within their specific circumstances.

Service Canada uses the information provided by both the employer (via the Record of Employment [ROE]) and the claimant (via the application) to determine whether a claimant is entitled to receive EI benefits.

Depending on the information provided, Service Canada may undertake further fact-finding with both parties, for example to determine if the claimant had just cause to voluntarily leave (quit) employment or if the claimant’s dismissal was for misconduct. Ultimately, Service Canada must rely on the accuracy of the information provided.

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