CUB 67214

R. C. STEVENSON, UMPIRE:

The Commission appeals from the decision of a Board of Referees allowing Mr. Tracy's appeal from its ruling denying a waiver of his waiting period.

Mr. Tracy was pursuing a sheet metal worker apprentice course. He was employed from June 13 to December 22, 2005. He began the next segment of his course on January 3, 2006. His last day of work, December 22, was a Thursday and the last in his four day work week. The employer shut down for the period between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

The Board of Referees said:

The Board finds from the claimant's testimony and from the ROE that he was no longer working because of Apprentice Training and that his final pay period was December 28, 2005 (Exhibit 3).

The Board finds that the claimant is enrolled in the third level of his apprenticeship program and that he served his initial two week waiting period for EI benefits at the start of his apprentice program.

The Board finds no reason to doubt the claimant's testimony that the company was shut down for Christmas and not because of a work shortage (Exhibits 3-3 and 4).

The Board accepts the claimant's testimony that he worked the night shift and on the evening of December 22, 2005 he was advised that he would not be returning to work for the two day period allowed under the collective agreement and that it made "more sense" to his co-workers to return to work after the New Year.

The Board finds that the claimant did not work over the Christmas holidays because his company decided to shut down until after the New Year given the timing of the statutory holidays last year.

The Board finds that the claimant returned to his apprenticeship program as scheduled and that he does meet the exemption requirements in section 39.1 of the Act.

Section 13 of the Employment Insurance Act and section 39.1 of the Employment Insurance Regulations are as follows:

13. A claimant is not entitled to be paid benefits in a benefit period until, after the beginning of the benefit period, the claimant has served a two week waiting period that begins with a week of unemployment for which benefits would otherwise be payable.

39.1 The waiting period shall be waived if the following conditions are met:

(a) the claimant is attending a course that is a required part of an apprenticeship program and to which they are referred pursuant to paragraph 25(1)(a) of the Act;

(b) the claimant has ceased working for the reason described in paragraph (a); and

(c) the claimant has, after the coming into force of this section, served a waiting period in respect of a course that is required part of the same apprenticeship program.

Section 39.1 was added to the Regulations by SOR/2002-280. The background was set out in the accompanying regulatory impact analysis statement which read, in part:

In support of the Skills Agenda, the Government of Canada announced in the Budget on December 10, 2001 that the Employment Insurance (EI) program would be modified so that apprentices in approved training programs would be subject to only one two-week waiting period per apprenticeship. Currently, apprentices must serve the two-week waiting period, during which no benefits are paid, each time they cease work to attend classroom training and file a new initial claim. Therefore, up to three to five waiting periods may have to be served during the course of an apprenticeship program.

The skilled trades provide good jobs to thousands of Canadians and are essential to the economy. Over the next few years Canada may be faced with a significant shortage of people with trade skills.

Apprenticeship is an industry-based method of training that leads to certification in a skilled trade. An apprenticeship program is a single continuous course of study stretching over a number of years. It generally combines systematic on-the-job paid training and in-class technical training at post-secondary institutions.

Apprentices are formally registered in an apprenticeship program regulated by the province or territory. In order to be registered, these trainees must have met the entrance requirements for an apprenticeship program and signed an apprenticeship contract with an employer, sponsor, or joint apprenticeship training committee.

An apprenticeship program typically involves twenty percent classroom training and eighty percent on the job training. Depending on the trade, three to five blocks of classroom training are generally required to complete the qualification.

To support individuals while they are learning these trades, the EI program provides benefits to apprentices in approved courses during periods of classroom training. However, serving multiple waiting periods over the course of an apprenticeship has been viewed as a financial deterrent to completing the training to earn the trade certification.

The waiver of the waiting period applies if a claimant's circumstances satisfy all three of the conditions set out in section 39.1. The Commission says Mr. Tracy satisfied conditions (a) and (c) but not (b) because he had ceased working, not because he was attending his course, but because of a shortage of work.

As in CUB 64468 the Board of Referees gave effect to the spirit of the regulation. They did not err in doing so.

The Commission's appeal is dismissed.

Ronald C. Stevenson

Umpire

FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK
November 16, 2006