Difference between revisions of "Types of Employment Insurance Benefits (8:IV)"

== D. Compassionate Care Benefits ==

Compassionate Care Benefits allow an eligible claimant to receive income support while absent from work to provide care or support for a family member with a serious medical condition and a significant risk of death within 26 weeks. The benefits for compassionate care must be claimed within a 52 week period. This 52 week window during which 26 weeks of compassionate care benefits may be payable is determined by the issuance of a medical certificate.

Unemployed persons on EI can also apply for this type of benefit.

To be eligible for Compassionate Care Benefits, a claimant must show that:

* their regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40% for at least one week because they need to take time away from work to provide care or support to the person; and

* they have accumulated at least 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start

of their claim, or since the start of their last claim, whichever is shorter.

A family member includes immediate family as well as other relatives and individuals considered to be like family, whether or not related by marriage, common-law partnership, or any legal parent child relationship. The claimant needs to demonstrate that they are a family member of the person who is needing end-of-life care, or they are '''''considered to be like a family member'''''. If they are not a family member, either the person needing care or their legal representative must complete an attestation form to confirm that they consider the claimant to be like family. For a child, the parent or legal guardian must sign the form to confirm.

To establish a claim for compassionate care benefits, medical proof is required. This includes an Authorization to Release Medical Certificate form signed by the ill person or their legal representative and a Medical Certificate for Employment Insurance Compassionate Care Benefits form signed by the medical doctor.

=== 1. Sharing Compassionate Care Benefits ===

The 26 weeks of compassionate care benefits in relation to a seriously ill family member can be shared by one or more claimants, and the weeks are to be divided as agreed to by those claimants (''EI Act'', s. 23.1(8)).

There is still a one-week waiting period before benefits can be claimed. However, if the benefit is to be shared with other family members, only the first family member to claim the compassionate care benefit has to serve the one-week waiting period.

:'''Note''': For more information on claiming compassionate care benefits, please refer to the [https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/caregiving.html ESDC website].

== E. Family Caregiver Benefit for Children ==