Adjustment Assistance Benefit Regulations (Footwear and Tanning Workers) (C.R.C., c. 317)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Adjustment Assistance Benefit Regulations (Footwear and Tanning Workers).

Interpretation

2 In these Regulations,

Act

Act means the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1971; (Loi)

average weekly insurable earnings

average weekly insurable earnings, with respect to an employee who is eligible to receive pre-retirement benefit, means the average of his weekly insurable earnings, as determined pursuant to the Act, from employment by a manufacturer for the 20 weeks of employment nearest to the effective date of his lay-off; (rémunération hebdomadaire moyenne assurable)

Board

Board means the Enterprise Development Board established by section 4 of the Enterprise Development Regulations; (Commission d’aide générale)

board of referees

board of referees means a board of referees established by the Act; (conseil arbitral)

certificate

certificate means a certificate issued by the Board pursuant to section 3; (certificat)

Commission

Commission means the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission; (Commission)

effective date of lay-off

effective date of lay-off means the date of lay-off of an employee that occurs within a lay-off period; (date d’effet de la mise à pied)

employee

employee means a person who is included in a lay-off; (employé)

employer

employer means an employer named in a certificate; (employeur)

footwear

footwear means any form of footwear other than footwear the main component of which is canvas; (chaussure)

lay-off

lay-off means the involuntary separation from employment for an indefinite period of an employee of a manufacturer solely as a result of a reduction by that manufacturer in the number of employees employed by him; (mise à pied)

manufacturer

manufacturer means

• (a) a person, firm or corporation or a division thereof in Canada engaged in a manufacturing or processing activity in the footwear or tanning industries, or both, on January 1, 1974,

• (b) any corporation restructured by means of the acquisition of one or more corporations or divisions thereof referred to in paragraph (a), or

• (c) a new corporation formed after January 1, 1974 by the merger or acquisition of two or more corporations or divisions thereof referred to in paragraph (a); (fabricant)

manufacturing or processing activity

manufacturing or processing activity means an activity whereby any footwear or leather

• (a) is made, fabricated, processed or refined out of any raw material or other substance or combination thereof, and includes the tanning of any raw material or other substance or combination thereof, or

• (b) is made by causing any raw material or other substance to undergo a significant chemical, biochemical or physical change including any change that preserves or improves the keeping qualities of that raw material or other substance but excluding any change by growth or decay; (travaux de fabrication ou de traitement)

maximum pre-retirement benefit

maximum pre-retirement benefit has the meaning assigned by section 9; (prestation maximale d’avant-retraite)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Labour; (ministre)

pre-retirement benefit

pre-retirement benefit means the pre-retirement benefit payable under these Regulations; (prestation d’avant-retraite)

qualifying week

qualifying week, with respect to an employee, means a week during which the employee was employed by a manufacturer and had insurable earnings as determined pursuant to the Act; (semaine donnant droit à l’aide)

restructure

restructure means a change that, in the opinion of the Board, is significant in the operations of a manufacturer in respect of the products, methods of production, markets or management procedures and, if directly related to those operations, includes

• (a) the acquisition, merger or amalgamation of one or more manufacturers described in paragraph (a) of the definition “manufacturer”,

• (b) the acquisition of working capital, or

• (c) the acquisition, construction or conversion of machinery, equipment, buildings, land or other facilities; (restructuration)

umpire

umpire means an umpire appointed under Part V of the Act. (juge-arbitre)

Conditions of Payment of Pre-retirement Benefits

• 3 (1) No pre-retirement benefit shall be paid to any person unless he is a person or belongs to a class of persons certified by the Board to the Minister in accordance with subsection (3) as eligible to apply for that benefit.

• (2) Any labour union or unit thereof, or any other representative group of workers, representing any workers employed in Canada by a Canadian manufacturer or any Canadian manufacturer may apply to the Board, in the manner specified by its rules, for certification of those persons or classes of persons who are eligible to apply for pre-retirement benefit.

• (3) The Board shall not certify persons or classes of persons as eligible to apply for pre-retirement benefit unless an application has been made pursuant to subsection (2), it has carried out such investigation as it considers necessary for the purpose and, in its opinion,

  • (a) the work force of a Canadian manufacturer has been or will be reduced through lay-offs

    • (i) by 10 per cent of the employees or 50 employees, whichever is the lesser, of the manufacturer, and

    • (ii) for a period of at least four weeks; and

  • (b) the lay-offs referred to in paragraph (a) are directly attributable to import competition that resulted in

    • (i) an increase in the market share in Canada of footwear produced by manufacturing or processing activities outside Canada, and

    • (ii) a decline in the production of footwear by a manufacturer.

• (4) The Board shall not certify persons or classes of persons as eligible to apply for a pre-retirement benefit in respect of a lay-off that occurred before January 1, 1976 or after December 31, 1982 where, in the opinion of the Board, the lay-off was directly attributable to import competition that resulted in

  • (a) an increase in the market share in Canada of footwear produced by manufacturing or processing activities outside Canada; and

  • (b) a decline in the production of footwear by a manufacturer.

Eligibility for Pre-retirement Benefit

• 4 (1) Subject to subsections (1.1) and (2), a pre-retirement benefit may be paid by the Commission out of monies appropriated by Parliament for the purpose in an amount calculated in accordance with these Regulations to an employee who is a resident of Canada if the Commission is satisfied that

  • (a) an application for a benefit under the Act has been made and any benefit entitlement thereunder has been exhausted;

  • (b) a pre-retirement benefit period in respect of the employee has been established pursuant to section 5;

  • (c) the employee has not attained the age of 65 years; and

  • (d) the employee is not eligible to receive a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan or the Quebec Pension Plan.

• (1.1) The Commission shall not pay a pre-retirement benefit in respect of any period prior to April 1, 1979 to any person or group of persons whose certification pursuant to subsection 3(3) occurred on or after that date.

• (2) Payments of pre-retirement benefit to an employee pursuant to subsection (1) shall be suspended for such time as the certification referred to in paragraph 5(c) is suspended pursuant to section 6, in respect of that employee.

Establishment of Pre-retirement Benefit Period

5 A pre-retirement benefit period is established in respect of an employee when, upon filing an application for pre-retirement benefit, he proves that

• (a) he had been employed by a Canadian manufacturer in at least 10 of the 15 years immediately preceding a lay-off and that he was paid by a manufacturer for at least 1,000 hours in each of those 10 years;

• (b) he was not less than 54 years of age but less than 65 years of age at the date of the lay-off; and

• (c) he has been certified by the Commission as a person resident in Canada

  • (i) for whom there is no present prospect of employment with or without further training or relocation assistance, or

  • (ii) who has accepted employment with earnings that are less than his average weekly insurable earnings.

Certification Suspended

6 The circumstances of every employee certified as required by paragraph 5(c) shall be reviewed at least once every 12 months by the Commission and if, upon review, any such employee does not meet the requirements of that paragraph the certification referred to therein shall be suspended.

Disqualification

• 7 (1) Where, in respect of an application for pre-retirement benefit any employee or any person on his behalf makes a statement or representation that the employee knows to be false or misleading, the Commission may declare the employee to be disqualified from receiving pre-retirement benefit for a number of weeks not exceeding the first three of the weeks described in subsection (2) that occur after such day as the Commission may determine.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a week described in this subsection is a week in respect of which an employee

  • (a) makes a claim for pre-retirement benefit in the manner prescribed by the Commission; and

  • (b) would, but for this section, be entitled to receive pre-retirement benefit.

Duration of Pre-retirement Benefit

8 Every pre-retirement benefit period established under these Regulations in respect of an employee shall commence with the date on which his unemployment insurance benefit period is terminated and shall terminate when he attains the age of 65 years, or on the date on which he becomes eligible to receive retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan or the Quebec Pension Plan, whichever is the earlier.

Maximum Pre-retirement Benefit

• 9 (1) The maximum pre-retirement benefit of an employee in respect of whom a pre-retirement benefit period has been established under these Regulations is a weekly sum of money equal to 66 2/3 per cent of his average weekly insurable earnings, which amount shall be rounded to the nearest cent in accordance with subsection 12(2).

• (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the insurable earnings of an employee for any week of employment pursuant to an agreement under section 37 of the Act shall be

  • (a) the amount the employee would have earned in that week if he had worked a full working week for the same employer, or

  • (b) the maximum weekly insurable earnings of an insured person under the Act

  whichever is the lesser.

Deduction for Earnings

10 There shall be deducted from pre-retirement benefits payable to an employee an amount equal to

• (a) $0.66 2/3 for each dollar obtained by the employee as

  • (i) earnings from employment or self-employment,

  • (ii) pension benefits from employer pension plans that were earned as a result of employment,

  • (iii) vacation pay, and

  • (iv) any income other than that described in subparagraphs (i) to (iii) that is received during the pre-retirement benefit period established under these Regulations as a result of current or previous employment; and

• (b) $1 for each dollar obtained by the employee as unemployment insurance benefit received during a pre-retirement benefit period established under these Regulations.

Annual Adjustment of Benefits

• 11 (1) Where a lay-off occurs as a result of which a pre-retirement benefit is authorized to be paid to an employee, the monthly amount of that benefit shall be adjusted annually so that the pre-retirement benefit payable to the employee for a month in any year following the year in which the lay-off occurs is the product obtained by multiplying

  • (a) the pre-retirement benefit for that month

  by

  • (b) the ratio that the Pension Index for the year bears to the Pension Index for the year in which the lay-off occurred.

• (2) In this section, “Pension Index” has the same meaning as in section 43.1 of the Canada Pension Plan, and the Pension Index for any year means the Pension Index for that year calculated in the manner described in that section.

• 12 (1) When the maximum pre-retirement benefit is adjusted annually pursuant to section 11,

  • (a) the product obtained by multiplying the amount referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a) by the ratio referred to in paragraph 11(1)(b) shall be adjusted to the nearest cent in accordance with subsection (2); and

  • (b) the quotient obtained from the ratio referred to in paragraph 11(1)(b) shall be expressed as a decimal fraction in accordance with subsection (3).

• (2) Where the product referred to in paragraph (1)(a) contains a fractional part of $1, that fraction shall be expressed as a decimal fraction of three or more digits after the decimal point and

  • (a) the third and subsequent digits after the decimal point shall be dropped if the third digit is less than five; or

  • (b) the second digit after the decimal point shall be increased by one and the third and subsequent digits shall be dropped if the third digit is five or greater than five.

• (3) Where the quotient referred to in paragraph (1)(b) contains a fraction that is less than one, that fraction shall be expressed as a decimal fraction of four digits after the decimal point, and

  • (a) the fourth digit after the decimal point shall be dropped if that digit is less than five; or

  • (b) the third digit after the decimal point shall be increased by one and the fourth digit dropped if the fourth digit is five or greater than five.

Procedure and Appeals

13 The Commission shall administer these Regulations on behalf of the Minister and shall

• (a) receive applications for pre-retirement benefit from employees;

• (b) determine the eligibility of employees to pre-retirement benefit and the amount and duration of the pre-retirement benefit payable to each such employee;

• (c) pay pre-retirement benefit and, subject to these Regulations, make recovery of overpayments of pre-retirement benefit and of amounts paid pursuant to these Regulations to any person not entitled thereto; and

• (d) make such reports to the Minister concerning the administration of these Regulations as he may require.

14 Sections 53, 54 and 55 of the Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to applications for pre-retirement benefit under these Regulations.

15 Where an employee submits an application for pre-retirement benefit on a day later than the day on which he was first qualified to make the application and shows good cause for the delay, the application may, in the manner and to the extent prescribed by section 39 of the Unemployment Insurance Regulations be regarded as having been submitted on a day earlier than the day on which it was submitted.

• 16 (1) The Commission shall consider all applications submitted to it under these Regulations, and

  • (a) if it is of the opinion that a pre-retirement benefit period has been established, it shall so declare; or

  • (b) if it is of the opinion that a pre-retirement benefit period has not been established, it shall

    • (i) declare that a pre-retirement benefit period has not been established and state which of the conditions or requirements of these Regulations have not been complied with, or

    • (ii) refer the application, if practicable, within 14 days from the day on which the application was submitted to it, to a board of referees for its decision.

• (2) Notwithstanding that a pre-retirement benefit period has been established, if the Commission is not satisfied that an employee has fulfilled all the other conditions or requirements for pre-retirement benefit or if it is of the opinion that the employee is or was disqualified or disentitled from receiving pre-retirement benefit it shall

  • (a) declare the employee to be disqualified or disentitled from receiving benefit for such days as it may determine, and state

    • (i) the grounds on which the employee is disqualified or disentitled, or

    • (ii) the conditions or requirements that he does not fulfil; or

  • (b) refer the application, if practicable, within 14 days from the day on which the application was submitted to it, to a board of referees for its decision.

• (3) Where an employee has been declared disqualified or disentitled under paragraph (2)(a) for any day or days, there shall be deducted from the pre-retirement benefit otherwise payable to him in respect of the week in which such day or days fall, an amount equal to 1/5 of the product obtained by multiplying the total number of such days in the week by the weekly pre-retirement benefit of that employee, but if the amount so calculated is not a multiple of $1, the amount shall be rounded to the nearest dollar and $0.50 shall be rounded to a full dollar.

• (4) Subsection (3) applies only in respect of days of disqualification or disentitlement falling on or after April 24, 1974.

• 17 (1) A board of referees has power to consider and determine appeals from decisions made under these Regulations by the Commission and matters referred to it under these Regulations by the Commission and an appeal lies from a decision of a board of referees on any such appeal or reference to an umpire.

• (2) Sections 91 to 99 and 101 to 105 of the Act and 62 to 70 of the Unemployment Insurance Regulations apply to these Regulations with such modifications as the circumstances require.

General

• 18 (1) Where an employee has received a pre-retirement benefit for any period in respect of which he is disqualified or to which he is otherwise not entitled, he is liable to repay an amount equal to the amount so received by him.

• (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), section 60 of the Unemployment Insurance Regulations applies with such modifications as the circumstances require to pre-retirement benefits paid to employees not entitled thereto.