These Were Not the Reforms We Were Looking For...

This is kind of hard for me to admit--in part, because I don't like talking about money, and also because I don't like admitting weakness, failure, or anything resembling the above. But I've been watching the EI reforms news lately, and I feel like sharing my experiences with the program. Oh, I agree, the EI system was badly in need of reform...

I spent most of 2010 unemployed/underemployed, and in May, after my Teaching Assistant contract at Dal ended, I applied for EI.  Now, because I had only been employed part-time, my EI benefits were very low, but they were enough to keep me in groceries. However, because I was still a student (I was in the thesis-writing phase of my PhD program, and though I was considered a full-time student, I was working independently and on my own time, and in my weekly reports, had to continuously assure the EI bureaucrats that yes, I was still available to work full-time or part time), I had to wait longer than usual for my claim to be processed.  Finally, however, I was off to the races, getting weekly EI cheques, and submitting weekly reports.  I was also applying for jobs. A lot of jobs. My own personal goal was to apply for a minimum of ten jobs a week.  That might not sound like a lot, but I really wanted a job. I was spending an hour to two hours on each job application--customizing my resume and cover letter to best reflect the skills and experience from my history that best suited each individual job. That's not counting the hours I spent scouring employment and individual company websites, looking for job postings.  I spent all this time working hard to find a job because I wanted a job. I did not want to be on EI.

I'm going to say that again, just for emphasis. I did not want to be on EI.  I had never been on EI before, and have not made a claim since then.  I like working. I was in no way trying to take advantage of the social welfare system. Despite my best efforts, I found myself unemployed and without an income. That's exactly what Employment Insurance is supposed to insure against.

As the summer wore on, I began to get desperate. I was bored, I was lonely, and I was depressed. I was driving Trent and my friends crazy. I am not well suited to spending my days alone. I like people, and I like to be challenged.  I like to work.  So finally, I decided to do up some business cards and a menu of services. I sent this material, along with my CV, to a bunch of consulting companies. I was calling myself a Communications Consultant. Basically, I was offering to proofread engineering and economics consultants' reports, to help them with the proposals and presentations, and essentially, to hire out my writing and presentation skills.

Now, when you're on EI, you have to report all of your professional activities to a bureaucrat every week. I was keeping careful records of every job I applied for, and every little bit of money that I made (I was getting the occasional gig as a background performer in film & TV). So naturally, like a good girl, during my weekly report, I told the bureaucrat that I had sent out my resume to a bunch of companies, advertising my skills as a Communications Consultant.

"You shouldn't have done that," he told me flatly. "Now we have to suspend your EI payments."

See, apparently, by trying to find work a little more innovatively, I had put myself in a different employment category: self-employment. I didn't matter that I was still applying for regular, old jobs, or that I hadn't made any money as a Communications Consultant yet. They suspended my payments for nearly two months while they investigated my self-employment activities.

During those (very hungry) weeks, I managed to get a very part-time job: as an event planner for a local dance company. They only paid $10 an hour, and they only hired me for 10 hours a week, so when my EI payments finally resumed, I was still getting money from the government.  Apparently, even under Harper, $100/week is not considered a living wage.

Tiny snag, though: my employer started bouncing paychecks.  I was patient for a few weeks, and then when she stopped returning my phone calls (she owed me for several weeks' work--which I had to report to EI, even though I hadn't received the money), I quit, and made a claim with the Nova Scotia Labour Board. I was not the only employee to make a claim against this employer, who had a history of failing to pay her employees.

And, like a good girl, I reported all of this to EI. They suspended my payments, because when you're on EI, you're not allowed to quit your job. Even if your boss expects you to keep working, but won't pay you. They investigated my claim for 6 weeks--even though I had documented everything through the NS labour board.

So yeah. The EI system has major problems, in my opinion--its failure to adequately take care of Canadian workers when we are at our most vulnerable.  So it's especially frustrating to me on a personal level to see that these reforms seem to be increasing, rather than alleviating, the professional and financial vulnerability of Canadian workers.