Work Share Program Extended

Thursday, March 05, 2009 02:08 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The Federal Government has announced it is making some changes to the Employment Insurance Work-Share program including extending the program by 14 weeks to a maximum of 52.

“We are pleased to hear this” says Frank Everitt, President of Steelworkers Union Local 1-424, “It is sad to say, but we will need it (extension) as the industry continues to face a weak demand.”

Everitt says the extension of the program will help to deliver some stability to workers, and hopefully help them to stay in their communities.

Here are some of the other details of the changes:

Companies who were participating in a work share agreement in 2008, which terminated prior to February 1, 2009, are immediately eligible to apply for a new extended Agreement involving the same employees, without a waiting period between agreements;
Pending work-sharing applications, received before February 1, 2009, will be eligible for an agreement of up to 26 weeks (the maximum initial allowable period at the time of application);
Companies with work-share agreements in place before February 1, 2009 will be able to immediately reapply, on expiration of their existing agreement, for a new 52 week agreement, thereby eliminating the waiting time;
The changes are retroactive to February 1st, 2009 and will remain in effect until April 3, 2010.

The MP for Prince George-Peace River, Jay Hill, was happy to pass along word of the changes, "The forest sector has been devastated by the global economic downturn," said Hill. "These changes will keep thousands of forest-sector employees gainfully employed until market conditions improve and will have a positive impact on our communities in north eastern BC."

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Posted on Thursday, March 05, 2009 02:08 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Iglooman on March 5 2009 9:45 PM

This was announced in the budget. I don't see what's new? Can someone enlighten me please.

Posted by: mythoughts on March 6 2009 7:07 AM

I think what was in the budget was the extension of EI benefits to 52 weeks. This program, work share is different. It is funded by EI but a little different. The employee works 3 or 4 days a week and EI pays them for the rest of the week. Most of the sawmills have reduced the shifts to 3 or 4 days. Now the employee can get EI for the rest of the week. In the past, an employee would have to be out of work totally before applying for EI. Now they they can collect it for partial weeks.

Posted by: Windigo on March 6 2009 12:27 PM

No jobs, EI running out, no food on the table...look for increase's in anti scocial behavior.
In the US tent cities are popping up every where....looks like the great depresion all over again. There are hundreds of thousands of homes not being lived in because people could not make their payment, so these people get degraded to homless street urchins, tent people and a menace to scociety. What is wrong with this picture?, with what we appear to know of the past, why would we not attempt to change the future by showing compasion for our fellow man/woman rather than step on him/her when they are down.