P A R T C D e c i s i o n u n d e r A p p e a l T h e d e c i s i o n u n d e r a p p e a l i s t h e M i n i s t r y o f S o c i a l r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n d a t e d M a r c h 6 , 2 0 1 4 w h i c a s s i s t a n c e p u r s u a n t t o s e c t i o n 1 0 ( 2 ) o f t h e E m p l o y m i n i s t r y h e l d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r e x c e s s o f t h e i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e r a t e s f o r t h e s i z e o P A R T D R e l e v a n t L e g i s l a t i o n E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e R e g u l a t i o n ( E A R ) s e c E A R S c h e d u l e A s e c t i o n s 1 , 2 , 4 a n d 5 E A R S c h e d u l e B s e c t i o n s 1 , 2 a n d 3 E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A L # I D e v e l o p m e n t a n d S o c i a l I n n o v a t i o n ( m i n i s t r y ) h d e n i e d t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s r e q u e s t f o r i n c o m e m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e R e g u l a t i o n ( E A R ) . T h e i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e b e c a u s e h i s n e t i n c o m e i s i n f h i s f a m i l y u n i t . t i o n s 1 , 1 0 , 2 8 a n d 7 7 . 1
P A R T E S u m m a r v o f F a c t s T h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t i n a t t e n d a n c e a t t h e h e a r i n g n o t i f i e d , t h e h e a r i n g p r o c e e d e d p u r s u a n t t o S e c t i o n R e g u l a t i o n . T h e e v i d e n c e b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y a t t h e t i m e o f t h e 1 . P a y s t u b s f r o m a c o m p a n y f o r N o v e m b e r 2 2 , F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 . T h e s e p a y s t u b s i d e n t i f y t a r e a s f o l l o w s : • N o v e m b e r 2 2 , 2 0 1 3 -$ 1 5 0 0 . 5 8 • J a n u a r y 1 7 , 2 0 1 3 -$ 1 0 8 8 . 6 0 • J a n u a r y 3 1 , 2 0 1 3 -$ 1 1 0 0 • F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 -$ 8 8 0 . 3 0 2 . T w o r e c e i p t s d a t e d J a n u a r y 3 1 , 2 0 1 3 a n d o n e 2 0 1 4 r e c e i p t s c o n f i r m s t h a t P e r s o n A r e c e i v e d o t h e r r e c e i p t o f t h e s a m e d a t e c o n f i r m s t h a t P a p p e l l a n t . T h e r e c e i p t d a t e d F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 $ 5 0 0 f r o m t h e a p p e l l a n t . 3 . A h a n d w r i t t e n l e t t e r d a t e d F e b r u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 " I , ( a p p e l l a n t ' s n a m e ) p a i d ( P e r s o n 8 ) $ 4 0 0 J a n u a r y 1 8 -3 1 , 2 0 1 4 . I a l s o p a i d ( P e r s o n A ( P e r s o n B ) n o l o n g e r w o r k s f o r m e . " T h e l e t t e r w a s s i g n e d b y t h e a p p e l l a n t , P e r s o d o c u m e n t , t o g e t h e r w i t h s e v e r a l o t h e r d o c u m t h e m i n i s t r y a s " F e b 2 8 , 2 0 1 3 " w h i c h c l e a r l y i 4 . A R e q u e s t f o r R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d a t e d F e b r u a r I n i t , s h e e x p l a i n s t h a t s h e a n d t h e a p p e l l a n t a a n d t h e y a r e n o t m a n a g i n g t o d o s o . S h e e x p l a p p e l l a n t a n d t h e a m o u n t s t h a t h e h a d t o p a y t h e g r o s s p a y c h e q u e f o r J a n u a r y 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 w a e a c h o f h i s c o w o r k e r s l e a v i n g h i m w i t h o n l y $ a p p e l l a n t p a i d h i s c o w o r k e r $ 5 0 0 , l e a v i n g t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d t o g e t a p a y d a y l o a n t o g e t f o o d f o r c a r i n s u r a n c e s o t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d a v a l m o s t n o m o n e y a n d t h e i r g a s , h y d r o a n d p h o t h e y h a v e r e c e i v e d a n e v i c t i o n n o t i c e . S h e k e e a n d s h e j u s t h a d a b a b y . 5 . A R e q u e s t f o r R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d a t e d M a r c h 6 f o r r e q u e s t i n g r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n r e p e a t m a n y o f s t a t e m e n t o f F e b r u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 b u t h e a d d s t h i n c o m e c o m i n g i n . 6 . A N o t i c e o f A n n e a l d a t e d M a r c h 1 8 , 2 0 1 4 a n d E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I li. P P t: A I -I+ . A f t e r c o n f i r m i n g t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s p r o p e r l y 8 6 ( b ) o f t h e E m p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n i n c l u d e d : 2 0 1 3 , J a n u a r y 1 7 , 2 0 1 4 , J a n u a r y 3 1 , 2 0 1 3 a n d h e a p p e l l a n t a s r e c i p i e n t a n d t h e a m o u n t s p a i d d a t e d F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 . O n e o f t h e J a n u a r y 3 1 , a p a y m e n t o f $ 4 0 0 f r o m t h e a p p e l l a n t , a n d t h e e r s o n B r e c e i v e d a p a y m e n t o f $ 4 0 0 f r o m t h e 4 c o n f i r m s t h a t P e r s o n A r e c e i v e d a p a y m e n t o f . T h e l e t t e r s t a t e s t h e f o l l o w i n g : a s w e l l a s ( P e r s o n A ) $ 4 0 0 f o r t h e p a y p e r i o d ) $ 5 0 0 f o r t h e p a y p e r i o d F e b r u a r y 1 -1 4 , 2 0 1 4 a s n A a n d P e r s o n B . T h e p a n e l n o t e d t h a t t h i s e n t s i n t h e a p p e a l r e c o r d w e r e d a t e s t a m p e d b y n d i c a t e s t h e i n c o r r e c t y e a r . y 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 a n d s i g n e d b y t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s s p o u s e . r e t r y i n g a l l a v e n u e s t o b e a b l e t o p a y t h e i r r e n t a i n s t h e a m o u n t s o f g r o s s p a y r e c e i v e d b y t h e h i s c o w o r k e r s . S p e c i f i c a l l y , s h e i n d i c a t e s t h a t s $ 1 1 0 0 , b u t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d t o p a y $ 4 0 0 t o 3 0 0 ; f o r t h e F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 p a y c h e q u e t h e a p p e l l a n t w i t h o n l y $ 3 8 0 r e m a i n i n g . S h e a n d t h e a n d h a v e m o n e y f o r g a s . T h e y a l s o h a d t o p a y e h i c l e t o g e t t o w o r k . S h e s t a t e s t h a t t h e y h a v e n e s e r v i c e a r e b e i n g d i s c o n n e c t e d . I n a d d i t i o n , p s t e l l i n g t h e l a n d l o r d t h a t t h e y w i l l b e h o m e l e s s , 2 0 1 4 a n d s i g n e d b y t h e a p p e l l a n t . H i s r e a s o n s t h e s a m e s t a t e m e n t s m a d e b y h i s s p o u s e i n h e r a t h e h a s n o t w o r k e d f o r 2 . 5 w e e k s a n d h a s n o s i a n e d b v t h e a o o e l l a n t i n w h i c h h e o r o v i d e s t h e
r e a s o n s f o r h i s a p p e a l . T h i s s t a t e m e n t i s i n c l u T h e R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n D e c i s i o n n o t e d t h a t t h e a p p e l s p o u s e a n d o n e d e p e n d e n t c h i l d . I t a l s o n o t e d t h a t o n F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 . A t t h e h e a r i n g , t h e m i n i s t r y s t a t e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n 2 0 1 4 a n d a " t o p u p " i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e p a y m e n t f o a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r f u r t h e r i n c o m e a s s i s t a r e c e i v i n g E m p l o y m e n t I n s u r a n c e ( E l ) b e n e f i t s . T h i s t o i s s u e s a d d r e s s e d i n t h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n i n f o r m a t i o n a s b e i n g i n s u p p o r t o f i n f o r m a t i o n a n d r r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n , i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h s e c t i o n 2 2 ( 4 ) o E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )� A P P E A L # d e d i n P a r t F . l a n t i s a n e m p l o y a b l e a p p l i c a n t w i t h a d e p e n d e n t t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d a p p l i e d f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e t h a d b e e n g i v e n h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e f o r M a r c h , r A p r i l . T h e m i n i s t r y a l s o i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e n c e f u n d i n g b e c a u s e h i s s p o u s e w a s n o w i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e s a d d i t i o n a l d e t a i l w i t h r e s p e c t . A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e p a n e l h a s a d m i t t e d t h i s n e w e c o r d s t h a t w e r e b e f o r e t h e m i n i s t r y a t t h e t i m e o f f t h e E A R .
APPEAL# I PART F -Reasons for Panel Decision The issue in this appeal is whether the ministry reasonably denied the appellant's request for income assistance based upon EAR section 10(2) because his net income was in excess of the income assistance rates for the size of his family unit. Specifically, the issue is whether the ministry's decision is reasonably supported by the evidence, or is a reasonable application of the legislation in the circumstances of the appellant. The relevant legislation is the following: From the EAR: Definitions 1 (1) In this regulation: "earned income" means (a) any money or value received in exchange for work or the provision of a service, Limits on income 10 (1) For the purposes of the Act and this regulation, "income", in relation to a family unit, includes an amount garnished, attached, seized, deducted or set off from the income of an applicant, a recipient or a dependant. (2) A family unit is not eligible for income assistance if the net income of the family unit determined under Schedule B equals or exceeds the amount of income assistance determined under Schedule A for a family unit matching that family unit. Amount of income assistance 28 Income assistance may be provided to or for a family unit, for a calendar month, in an amount that is not more than (a) the amount determined under Schedule A, minus (b) the family unit's net income determined under Schedule B. Eligibility for self-employment program 77 .1 To be eligible to participate in a self-employment program established or funded by the minister under section 7 of the Act, a recipient must qualify under section 2 of this regulation as a person with persistent multiple barriers to employment. Schedule A Income Assistance Rates Maximum amount of income assistance before deduction of net income 1 (1) Subject to this section and sections 3 and 6 to 10 of this Schedule, the amount of Income assistance referred to in section 28 (a) [amount of income assistance} of this regulation is the sum of (a) the monthly support allowance under section 2 of this Schedule for a family unit matching the family unit of the applicant or recipient, plus (b) the shelter allowance calculated under sections 4 and 5 of this Schedule. Monthly suooort allowance EAAT003(10/06/01)
I APPEAL# The table in section 2 of Schedule A shows that for a "Family unit composition" of Two applicants/recipients and one or more dependent children where the "Age or status of the applicant or recipient "is Both applicants/recipients are under 65 years of age the "Amount of support" is $401.06. Monthly shelter allowance 4 (1) For the purposes of this section: "family unit" includes a child who is not a dependent child and who resides in the parent's place of residence for not less than 40% of each month, under the terms of an order or an agreement referred to in section 1 (2) of this regulation; "warrant" has the meaning of a warrant in section 15.2 [consequences in relation to outstanding arrest warrants] of the Act. (2) The monthly shelter allowance for a family unit to which section 15.2 of the Act does not apply Is the smaller of (a) the family unit's actual shelter costs, and (bl the maximum set out in the followino table for the annlicable family size: Ite Column 1 Column 2 m Familv Unit Size Maximum Monthlv Shelter 1 1 oerson $ 3 7 5 2 2 oersons $570 3 3 persons $660 4 4 p ersons $700 5 5 oersons $ 7 5 0 6 6 oersons $ 7 8 5 7 7 oersons $820 8 8 persons $855 9 9 persons $890 10 10 persons $925 Schedule B Net Income Calculation Deduction and exemption rules Section 1 specifies types of income which are exempted when net income is calculated. None of the items applied to the appellant. Deductions from earned income 2 The only deductions permitted from earned income are the following: (a) any amount deducted at source for (i) income tax, (ii) employment insurance, (iii) medical insurance, (iv) Canada Pension Plan, (v) superannuation, (vi) company pension plan, and (vii) union dues; (b) if the applicant or recipient provides both room and board to a person at the applicant's or recioient's olace of residence the essential ooeratino costs of orovidino the room and EAAT 003(10/06/01)
I APPEAL# board; (c) if the applicant or recipient rents rooms that are common to and part of the applicant's or recipient's place of residence, 25% of the gross rent received from the rental of the rooms. Exemption -earned income 3 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the amount of earned income calculated under subsection (6) is exempt for a family unit. (2) If an application for income assistance (part 2) form is submitted to the minister, the family unit may not claim an exemption under this section in relation to the first calendar month for which the family unit becomes eligible for income assistance unless a member of the family unit received disability assistance under the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act for the calendar month immediately preceding that first calendar month. (3) Unless otherwise provided under subsection (4) or (5), the amount of earned Income calculated under subsection (6) (a) is exempt for a family unit that qualifies under this section. (4) The amount of earned income calculated under subsection (6) (b) is exempt for the family unit if (a) the family unit includes a sole recipient who (i) has a dependent child, or (ii) has in his or her care a foster child, and (b) the child has a physical or mental condition that, in the minister's opinion, precludes the sole recipient from leaving home for the purposes of employment or working, on average, more than 30 hours each week. (5) The amount of earned income calculated under subsection (6) (c) is exempt for the family unit if any person in the family unit is a person who has persistent multiple barriers to employment. (6) The exempt amount for a family unit that qualifies under this section is calculated as follows: (a) in the case of a family unit to which subsection (3) applies, the exempt amount is calculated as the lesser of (i) $200, and (ii) the family unit's total earned income in the calendar month of calculation; (b) in the case of a family unit to which subsection (4) applies, the exempt amount is calculated as the lesser of (i) $300, and (ii) the family unit's total earned income in the calendar month of calculation; (c) in the case of a family unit to which subsection (5) applies, the exempt amount is calculated as the lesser of (i) $500, and (ii) the family unit's total earned income in the calendar month of calculation. In his Notice of Appeal, the appellant stated that he strongly disagrees with the ministry's (reconsideration) decision. He has had no income and no work since February 14. He and his family are a month and a half behind in their rent and their hydro and cell phones are in danger of being shut off. He asks how is he supposed to go back to work if he has no contact number. He has a one month old child and no money coming in. He and his family are getting further and further behind and have tried all avenues for food, etc. The appellant explained in his request for reconsideration that he has employment as a contractor and he was paid $1100 on January 31, 2014 and $880 on February 14, 2014. But he had to pay his co-workers out of those payments. He argued that after paying his co-workers he was left with only $300 from the January 31 payment and $380 from the February 14 payment. The appellant submitted payroll stubs confirming that he had received the payments he specified. In addition, the appellant submitted receipts from his co-workers confirming that they had been paid the amounts specified by the aooellant. The ministry did not dispute this information. EAAT 003( 10/06/01)
A s n o t e d p r e v i o u s l y , t h e m i n i s t r y e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e t h e m o n t h o f M a r c h a n d a " t o p u p " p a y m e n t f o r i n c o m i n i s t r y r e l i e d u p o n t h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n t o i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e p r i o r t o t h e m o n t h o f A p r i l , 2 0 1 4 T h e r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n d e c i s i o n n o t e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a o f J a n u a r y , 2 0 1 4 . A l t h o u g h t h e a p p e l l a n t s t a t e d t h a w h o w o r k f o r h i m , t h e m i n i s t r y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a e x e m p t i o n u n d e r S c h e d u l e B o f t h e E A R a n d c o n s e w e r e c o n s i d e r e d t o b e h i s n e t e a r n i n g s . T h e m i n i s t ry t h e m a x i m u m r a t e o f a s s i s t a n c e f o r a f a m i l y o f t h r e e $ 1 0 6 1 . 0 6 . A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e m i n i s t r y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t a s s i s t a n c e b e c a u s e h i s n e t i n c o m e e x c e e d e d t h e a a p p r o p r i a t e f o r h i s f a m i l y u n i t s i z e u n d e r S c h e d u l e A I n r e s p o n s e t o a q u e s t i o n f r o m t h e p a n e l , t h e m i n i s t p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e s e l f e m p l o y m e n t p r o g r a m . A s o u t l i s e l f e m p l o y m e n t p r o g r a m r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e r e c i p i e n t e m p l o y m e n t . T h e a p p e l l a n t d o e s n o t q u a l i f y f o r t h i s T h e p a n e l r e v i e w e d t h e d e d u c t i o n a n d e x e m p t i o n r u 2 o f S c h e d u l e B o f t h e E A R , a n d c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s n e t i n c o m e i n J a n u a r y w a s h i g h e r t h a n t A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e p a n e l c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y h n o t e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e . H a v i n g r e v i e w e d a n d c o n s i d e r e d a l l o f t h e e v i d e n c e t h e m i n i s t r y ' s d e c i s i o n t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e l e g i s l a t i o n i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f T h e p a n e l t h e r e f o r e c o n f i r m s t h e m i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n . E AA T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 ): A P P E A L # a p p e l l a n t h a d r e c e i v e d h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e f o r m e a s s i s t a n c e f o r t h e m o n t h o f A p r i l , b u t t h e e x p l a i n w h y t h e a p p e l l a n t h a d b e e n d e n i e d . n t h a d r e c e i v e d g r o s s p a y o f $ 2 1 8 8 f o r t h e m o n t h t h e h a d p a i d s o m e o f h i s e a r n i n g s t o c o w o r k e r s p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r a n e a r n i n g s q u e n t l y , f o u n d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s g r o s s e a r n i n g s e x p l a i n e d t h a t u n d e r S c h e d u l e A o f t h e E A R , i s $ 4 0 1 . 0 6 s u p p o r t a n d $ 6 6 0 s h e l t e r f o r a t o t a l o f t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e m o u n t o f i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e d e t e r m i n e d t o b e . r y e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s n o t e l i g i b l e t o n e d i n s e c t i o n 7 7 . 1 o f t h e E A R , e l i g i b i l i t y f o r t h e m u s t q u a l i f y a s a p e r s o n w i t h m u l t i p l e b a r r i e r s t o s t a t u s . l e s f o r d e t e r m i n i n g n e t i n c o m e i n s e c t i o n s 1 a n d m i n i s t r y h a d r e a s o n a b l y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e h e m a x i m u m r a t e o f a s s i s t a n c e f o r a f a m i l y o f 3 . a d r e a s o n a b l y d e t e r m i n e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s a n d t h e r e l e v a n t l e g i s l a t i o n , t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t i b l e f o r i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e w a s a r e a s o n a b l e t h e a p p e l l a n t .
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.