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" Labour minister Bryce Mackasey announced Tues- day that, by about the mid- dle of January, a change in the reporting system will enable unemployment in- ,,,.,,.r,,t 'tc.-' W" “WEDDINGS Piiihiiiih/ioiiriad to speed the processing of UIC cheques 50 WESTMOUNT M. N. Waterloo Chronicle, Thursday. January 13. 1972 WESTMOUNT PLACE SHOPPING CENTRE Waterloo JANUARY SALE surance claimants to re- ceive their first cheque a week sooner. Extensive tests have been made and the new system will be put into effect as 578-7030 tP,'?,' 5 0% soon as instructions can be printed and placed in UIC offices throughout Canada. To prove entitlement, a claimant must regularly mail a claimant's report to Thurs. ' Fri. Open Daily 9:30 " 6 CHARGEX m 4 This situation will be cor- rected by issuing the first two claimant's reports at the same time and asking the claimant to return both at the end of the third week. This will ensure that all claimants not entitled to the advanced payment will have th.eir first cheque issued in the fourth week if their re- ports are mailed on time. Major Changes Starting January 2, 1972, the collection of contribu- tions from employers and employees will be handled by the department of nation- al revenue, taxation. This will be more convenient for employers. who will use only one monthly return to cover deductions for income tax, Canada Pension Plan and unemployment insurance. It will also remove the need for a separate audit by the unemployment insurance commission. Besides this change in the contribution system, there is a major change in the method of recording an employee's earnings - on which his benefits are based. Under the old act, the em- ployer had to keep a "con- For a claimant entitled to the iyivanced payment, pay- ment should be and is being made in the third week on receipt of the first claim- ant's report. For all other claimants, payment is made on receipt of the sec- ond claimant's report which should be in the fourth week. However, due to the time taken to receive the first report, issue the second and receive it back, many first payments are not made until the fifth week. certify he is still out of work. Thistsone of the com- mission's controls to pre- vent abuse. Payment is then made in arrears on receipt of the claimant's report. see our showroom display 0r phone for home consulta- hon by a twahfred representative Authorized Dealer tor Everest & Jennings Canadian Ltd Hours: 8:30 to 5:30 - Saturday 10:00 to 4:00 major menial WHEEL CHAIRS SUPPLIES llMlTED 663 King W., Kitchener (Opp. louim) Sales - Rentals - Repairs DIAL 579-6200 The annual submission of contribution records will be replaced simply adding insured earnings and contri- butions deducted to the T4 returns submitted each February to the department of national revenue, taxa- tion - a considerable sim- plification for employers. Earnings Hah A The new act provides for the payment of unemploy- ment insurance benefits when a person has suffered an "interruption of eam- ings". This does not neces- sarily mean a total and permanent separation from an employer. Under the new Act, the employer will give a "sepa- ration certificate" only to employees who leave. This will show only the insured earnings up to a maximum of the last twenty weeks of employment and the date the employee commenced work up to a maximum of one year prior to separation. Quite often the "interrup- tion of earnings" is caused by a temporary shortage of work or by sickness or preg- nancy. After that, the em- ployee is expected back at work. But, in the mean- time, he or she is rightly entitled to qualify for unem- ployment insurance bene- fits. The law also has to take into account all forms of earnings at the time of the "interruption of earnings". For example, if an employ- ee is leaving for good, he or she may be entitled to two weeks' vacation or other tribution record which showed by week the contri- butions deducted. A copy of this record had to be given to the employee on separat- tion and also a copy had to be sent to the unemploy- ment insurance commission at the end of each year. Drivers are reminded by the Ontario Safety League of one of the easiierver- looked winter dangers. In- tersections are likely to be more dangerous than other road sections, because the heavy traffic tends to polish ice and snow to a hard glaze. Approach intersections more slowly in winter. It should be understood that an employee who is drawing vacation pay is not suffering hardship, nor is his or her family. There is simply a postponement of benefits and thus a saving to the unemployment in- sura'ce account which . passed on to all other en. ployees in the form of a re- duped premium. In compensation. it should be noted that those who might otherwise be under- going real hardship enjoy higher benefit rates under thenew Act. . Any Act has to have clear boundaries and any post- ponement of benefits caused by "working out" excess earnings or vacation pay are a very different situa- tion from delays involved in the processing of a claim. Payment Delay Studies show that claims can be delayed for many reasons that are beyond the control of the Commission. For one thing, a large pro- portion of claims received do not meet the basic re- quirements when first sub- mitted. types of pay. During that two weeks he or she is in fact still in re- ceipt of earnings, so the in- terruption of earnings does not occur until after those two weeks have gone by. Of the claimsqllowed, 88 percent were issued cheques within four weeks of the original application and the balance were delayed until the waiting-period earnings could be liquidated. This may be because the employer has failed to pro- vide a complete record of the employee's contribu- tions, or the claimant fails to complete the application correctly. For another, the law provides that the start of a claim is postponed if there are additional earn- ings at the time of separa- tion. _ Then, again, the law pro- vides up to three weeks dis-' qualification to those who leave their job voluntarily without just cause or are discharged for misconduct. Intersections are more slippery In any event, 98 percent were processed as far as they could be within the first three weeks,