CUB 66047

PAUL ROULEAU, Chief Umpire Designate

The claimant appeals from the Board of Referees' unanimous decision upholding the Commission's determination to the effect that he did not have good cause for his delay in filing his benefit claim. The claimant indicated that he did not want to have a hearing before the Board of Referees. Consequently, a decision will be given on the basis of the record.

The facts in the docket are as follows: Mr. Goulet submitted a claim for benefits on November 28, 2005, effective November 27, 2005. He worked for the Club de Golf in East Angus from April 4, 2005 to October 21, 2005, the date on which he was laid off owing to a work shortage. He asked that his request be antedated to October 30, 2005 because he thought that he had to wait for his waiting period to pass before submitting his request.

The Commission refused to antedate the claimant's benefit claim because it was of the opinion that he had not shown that he had good cause for the entire period of his delay. The Commission based its decision on the fact that claimant was a seasonal worker who had filed about 10 benefit claims in the past.

The claimant asked the Commission to review its determination. He indicated that he filed his claim late because he waited to obtain his Record of Employment before filing his benefit claim. The Commission maintained its refusal to antedate the claim.

The claimant appealed from the Commission's determination to a Board of Referees. At the hearing, the claimant simply reiterated that he had to wait to receive his Record of Employment. The Board of Referees did not accept the claimant's explanation and concluded that good faith and ignorance of the law did not excuse his failure to comply with a legislative requirement. The appeal was dismissed.

The claimant appealed from the Board's decision to the Umpire on the ground that he did not know that he had to file his claim even though he had not received his separation slip.

In the instant case, the claimant's delay in filing his benefit claim is only about four weeks. I am of the opinion that the claimant's explanations fully justify this delay. Given that he is a seasonal worker, he filed a benefit claim every winter. He knew that he had to wait two weeks and always filed his benefit claim with his Record of Employment. For whatever reason, in 2005, the employer did not issue the Record of Employment before November 25, and it did not post it as usual. The claimant therefore had to go to his employer to obtain it and filed his benefit claim a few days later.

The Board of Referees recognized that the claimant acted in good faith but it did not see fit to evaluate the claimant's explanations and determine whether the claimant had good cause for his short delay in filing his claim.

I am satisfied that the claimant had good cause for his delay in filing his appeal. Consequently, his request to antedate should be granted.

The claimant's appeal is allowed.

Paul Rouleau

UMPIRE

OTTAWA, Ontario
June 15, 2006