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 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 w h e i n c o m e 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 9 o f t h e E m c o m p l y i n g w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f h e r E m p l o y m e n t P e m p l o y m e n t r e l a t e d p r o g r a m a n d w i t h n o m e d i c a l r 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 A c t ( E A A ) , S e c t i o n 9A 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 ) r e b y t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s f o u n d t o b e i n e l i g i b l e f o r p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e A c t ( E A A ) f o r n o t l a n ( E P ) , d u e t o h e r f a i l u r e t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n h e r e a s o n f o r h e r n o n p a r t i c i p a t i o n .
APPEAL# I PART E -Summary of Facts The appellant did not attend the hearing. After confirming that the appellant was notified, the hearing proceeded under Section 86(b) of the Employment and Assistance Regulation. The evidence before the ministry at the time of the reconsideration decision included: 1) EP signed by the appellant dated December 24, 2013. The terms of the EP include provisions requiring the appellant to participate in the Employment Program of B.C. program regularly and as directed by the contractor. She will work with the contractor to address any issues that may impact her employability and complete all tasks assigned including any activities that may be set out in an action plan. She will notify the contractor if she is unable to attend a session or when she starts or ends any employment. 2) Request for Reconsideration, which did not include any reasons and was stamped received by the ministry February 26, 2014. In her Notice of Appeal dated March 14, 2014 the appellant expressed her disagreement with the ministry's reconsideration decision because she is able to get a job and denial [of income assistance] when in need is not beneficial. The appellant appears to write that she is not 60 or 80 years old and she is not crippled, although her comments are not entirely intelligible. The ministry stated that the appellant is a single employable recipient with no dependents. She signed an EP on December 24, 2013, thereby agreeing to participate in employment programming through a contractor. The conditions of her plan require that the appellant complete all tasks assigned and to notify the contractor if she is unable to attend a session. On January 8, 2014, the appellant provided confirmation to the ministry that she had scheduled an intake appointment with the contractor on January 16, 2014. On February 14, 2014, the contractor advised the ministry that the appellant failed to attend the appointments scheduled on January 16 and 27 and February 3 and 11, 2014. On February 19, 2014, the appellant advised the ministry that she failed to attend the appointments with the contractor because she was sick. The ministry verified with the contractor that the appellant had not contacted them. The appellant did not provide any information to confirm that she had been sick. At the hearing, the ministry stated that there were at least two conversations with the appellant about the consequences for not complying with an EP. The ministry stated that the appellant also had compliance issues in October and December under her previous EP. She had missed appointments with the contractor and first explained that she was sick and then stated that she did not wake up in time for one appointment and her alarm clock did not work and she missed the other. For the present EP, the appellant had signed up for the program and then did not attend any sessions. The appellant advised the ministry that she had contacted the contractor to let them know that she was sick but when the ministry contacted the contractor, the ministry was advised that no contact had been made. The ministry stated that the contractor is capable of assessing any barriers to employment that the client may have and to make referrals to start to address these issues. The ministry stated that the period of time over which the appellant stated she was sick and unable to attend the appointments with the contractor was approximately 3 weeks and it was not clear why she would not have visited a doctor over this time and have obtained some confirming information, or why she scheduled further appointments if she was ill. The ministry confirmed that no information regarding an illness was provided to the ministrv by the aooellant.
P A R T F R e a s o n s f o r P a n e l D e c i s i o n T h e i s s u e o n a p p e a l i s w h e t h e r t h e m i n i s t r y r e a s o n w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f h e r E P , d u e t o h e r f a i l u r e t o p w i t h n o m e d i c a l r e a s o n f o r n o t p a r t i c i p a t i n g , a n d t h i n c o m e 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 9 o f t h e E m S e c t i o n 9 o f t h e E A A p r o v i d e s : E m p l o y m e n t p l a n 9 ( 1 ) F o r a f a m i l y u n i t t o b e 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 i n t h e f a m i l y u n i t , w h e n r e q u i r e d t o d o s o b y t h e m ( a ) e n t e r i n t o a n e m p l o y m e n t p l a n , a n d ( b ) c o m p l y w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e e m p l o y m e n t ( 2 ) A d e p e n d e n t y o u t h , w h e n r e q u i r e d t o d o s o b y t h e ( a ) e n t e r i n t o a n e m p l o y m e n t p l a n , a n d ( b ) c o m p l y w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e e m p l o y m e n t ( 3 ) T h e m i n i s t e r m a y s p e c i f y t h e c o n d i t i o n s i n a n e m p r e q u i r i n g t h e a p p l i c a n t , r e c i p i e n t o r d e p e n d e n t y o p r o g r a m t h a t , i n t h e m i n i s t e r ' s o p i n i o n , w i l l a s s i s t ( a ) f i n d e m p l o y m e n t , o r ( b ) b e c o m e m o r e e m p l o y a b l e . ( 4 ) I f a n e m p l o y m e n t p l a n i n c l u d e s a c o n d i t i o n r e q u i r i p a r t i c i p a t e i n a s p e c i f i c e m p l o y m e n t r e l a t e d p r o g r a ( a ) f a i l s t o d e m o n s t r a t e r e a s o n a b l e e f f o r t s t o p a r t i c ( b ) c e a s e s , e x c e p t f o r m e d i c a l r e a s o n s , t o p a r t i c i p ( 5 ) I f a d e p e n d e n t y o u t h f a i l s t o c o m p l y w i t h s u b s e c t i o a s s i s t a n c e o r h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e p r o v i d e d t o o r f o p r e s c r i b e d p e r i o d . ( 6 ) T h e m i n i s t e r m a y a m e n d , s u s p e n d o r c a n c e l a n e ( 7 ) A d e c i s i o n u n d e r t h i s s e c t i o n ( a ) r e q u i r i n g a p e r s o n t o e n t e r i n t o a n e m p l o y m e n t ( b ) a m e n d i n g , s u s p e n d i n g o r c a n c e l l i n g a n e m p l o y ( c ) s p e c i f y i n g t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f a n e m p l o y m e n t p l a i s f i n a l a n d c o n c l u s i v e a n d i s n o t o p e n t o r e v i e w b y ( 3 ) ( r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n a n d a p p e a l r i g h t s ] . S e c t i o n 9 ( 1 ) o f t h e E A A p r o v i d e s t h a t , w h e n t h e m i n a n d c o m p l y w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e E P i n o r d e r t o 9 ( 3 ) o f t h e E A A , t h e m i n i s t r y h a s t h e a u t h o r i t y t o s p t h a t t h e p e r s o n p a r t i c i p a t e i n a n e m p l o y m e n t r e l a t e d a n E P i n c l u d e s a c o n d i t i o n r e q u i r i n g a p e r s o n t o p a p r o g r a m , t h a t c o n d i t i o n i s n o t m e t i f t h e p e r s o n f a i l s i n t h e p r o g r a m o r i f t h e p e r s o n c e a s e s , e x c e p t f o r m M i n i s t r y ' s P o s i t i o n T h e m i n i s t r y ' s p o s i t i o n i s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t c e a s e d t p r o v i d e d a n y i n f o r m a t i o n t o v e r i f y t h a t i t w a s f o r m e a p p e l l a n t e n t e r e d i n t o a n E P d a t e d D e c e m b e r 2 4 , 2 r e a d , u n d e r s t o o d a n d a g r e e d t o t h e c o n d i t i o n s s p e c c o m p l e t e a l l t a s k s a s s i q n e d b v t h e c o n t r a c t o r a n d n A P P E A L # I a b l y 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 d i d n o t c o m p l y a r t i c i p a t e i n h e r e m p l o y m e n t r e l a t e d p r o g r a m a n d a t , t h e r e f o r e , t h e a p p e l l a n t i s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r p l o y m e n t a n d A s s i s t a n c e A c t ( E A A ) . c e o r h a r d s h i p a s s i s t a n c e , e a c h a p p l i c a n t o r r e c i p i e n t i n i s t e r , m u s t p l a n . m i n i s t e r , m u s t p l a n . l o y m e n t p l a n i n c l u d i n g , w i t h o u t l i m i t a t i o n , a c o n d i t i o n u t h t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n a s p e c i f i c e m p l o y m e n t r e l a t e d t h e a p p l i c a n t , r e c i p i e n t o r d e p e n d e n t y o u t h t o n g a n a p p l i c a n t , a r e c i p i e n t o r a d e p e n d e n t y o u t h t o m , t h a t c o n d i t i o n i s n o t m e t i f t h e p e r s o n i p a t e i n t h e p r o g r a m , o r a t e i n t h e p r o g r a m . n ( 2 ) , t h e m i n i s t e r m a y r e d u c e t h e a m o u n t o f i n c o m e r t h e f a m i l y u n i t b y t h e p r e s c r i b e d a m o u n t f o r t h e m p l o y m e n t p l a n . p l a n , m e n t p l a n , o r n a c o u r t o n a n y g r o u n d o r t o a p p e a l u n d e r s e c t i o n 1 7 i s t r y r e q u i r e s , a p e r s o n m u s t e n t e r i n t o a n E P b e 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 . U n d e r S e c t i o n e c i f y c o n d i t i o n s i n a n E P , i n c l u d i n g a r e q u i r e m e n t p r o g r a m . P u r s u a n t t o S e c t i o n 9 ( 4 ) o f t h e E A A , i f r t i c i p a t e i n a s p e c i f i c e m p l o y m e n t r e l a t e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e r e a s o n a b l e e f f o r t s t o p a r t i c i p a t e e d i c a l r e a s o n s , t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e p r o g r a m . o p a r t i c i p a t e i n h e r E P a n d t h a t s h e h a s n o t d i c a l r e a s o n s . T h e m i n i s t r y a r g u e d t h a t t h e 0 1 3 a n d , b y s i g n i n g h e r E P , c o n f i r m e d t h a t s h e i f i e d . I t i s a r e q u i r e m e n t i n t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s E P t o o t i f y t h e c o n t r a c t o r i f s h e i s u n a b l e t o a t t e n d . T h e
m i n i s t r y a r g u e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s a w a r e o f t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f h e r E P . T h e m i n i s t r y p o i n t e d o u t t h a s c h e d u l e d w i t h t h e c o n t r a c t o r f o r J a n u a r y 1 6 a n d 2 p r o v i d e a n y m e d i c a l d o c u m e n t a t i o n t h a t i n d i c a t e s s i m p a c t h e r a b i l i t y t o a t t e n d . A p p e l l a n t ' s P o s i ti o n T h e a p p e l l a n t ' s p o s i t i o n a s s e t o u t i n h e r N o t i c e o f A [ o f i n c o m e a s s i s t a n c e ] w h e n i n n e e d i s n o t b e n e f i c i P a n e l ' s D e c i s i o n T h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t s i g n e d h e r E P o n c o n d i t i o n s t h a t s h e w i l l w o r k w i t h t h e c o n t r a c t o r t o a e m p l o y a b i l i t y , c o m p l e t e a l l t a s k s a s s i g n e d i n c l u d i n g p l a n , a n d n o t i f y t h e c o n t r a c t o r i f s h e i s u n a b l e t o a t t m i s s e d a p p o i n t m e n t s w i t h t h e c o n t r a c t o r s c h e d u l e d 2 0 1 4 . A l t h o u g h t h e a p p e l l a n t a d v i s e d t h e m i n i s t r y t n o t a b l e t o a t t e n d b e c a u s e o f i l l n e s s , t h e c o n t r a c t o r m a d e b y t h e a p p e l l a n t . T h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t , a f t e r s i g n i n g h e r E P , t h e a p p e s c h e d u l e d a n d d i d n o t c o n t a c t t h e c o n t r a c t o r t o e x p p a r t i c i p a t e i n h e r p r o g r a m . W h i l e t h e a p p e l l a n t a r g u e m p l o y m e n t o n h e r o w n , s h e h a s n o t a t t e n d e d a n y t o e x p l o r e t h e s e r v i c e s t h a t t h e c o n t r a c t o r , o r s o m e h e r E P . T h e a p p e l l a n t i n i t i a l l y a r g u e d t h a t s h e d i d n p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e r e i s n o i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d b y c o n d i t i o n o r t h e a s s o c i a t e d r e s t r i c t i o n s i n o r d e r t o d c e a s i n g t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n h e r p r o g r a m . T h e l e g i s l a t i o r e a s o n f o r c e a s i n g t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e p r o g r a m , a n d c o n c l u d e d , p u r s u a n t t o S e c t i o n 9 o f t h e E A A , t h a t t h C o n c l u s i o n T h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n , w h e r e b y 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 9 o f t h e E A A , w a s a e n a c t m e n t i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e a p p e l l a n t a n d A P P E A L # I c o n s e q u e n c e s f o r f a i l i n g t o c o m p l y w i t h t h e t t h e a p p e l l a n t f a i l e d t o a t t e n d a p p o i n t m e n t s 7 a n d F e b r u a ry 3 a n d 1 1 , 2 0 1 4 a n d s h e d i d n o t h e s u f f e r s f r o m a n y m e d i c a l i s s u e s t h a t w o u l d p p e a l i s t h a t s h e i s a b l e t o g e t a j o b a n d d e n i a l a l . D e c e m b e r 2 4 , 2 0 1 3 a n d t h e E P i n c l u d e s d d r e s s a n y i s s u e s t h a t m a y i m p a c t h e r a n y a c t i v i t i e s t h a t m a y b e s e t o u t i n a n a c t i o n e n d a s e s s i o n . I t i s n o t d i s p u t e d t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t o n J a n u a r y 1 6 a n d 2 7 a n d F e b r u a ry 3 a n d 1 1 , h a t s h e h a d l e t t h e c o n t r a c t o r k n o w t h a t s h e w a s a d v i s e d t h e m i n i s t ry t h a t n o c o n t a c t h a d b e e n l l a n t d i d n o t a t t e n d a n y o f t h e a p p o i n t m e n t s l a i n h e r a b s e n c e s a n d t h e r e b y c e a s e d t o e d i n h e r N o t i c e o f A p p e a l t h a t s h e c a n s e c u r e o f t h e s e s s i o n s w i t h t h e c u r r e n t c o n t r a c t o r i n o r d e r o f t h e r e f e r r a l s , m a y o f f e r t o h e r , a s i s r e q u i r e d b y o t a t t e n d t h e s e s s i o n s b e c a u s e s h e w a s i l l . T h e t h e a p p e l l a n t a s t o t h e n a t u r e o f h e r m e d i c a l e m o n s t r a t e t h a t t h e r e i s a m e d i c a l r e a s o n f o r h e r n r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e a p p e l l a n t p r o v i d e a m e d i c a l t h e p a n e l f i n d s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y r e a s o n a b l y i s r e q u i r e m e n t h a s n o t b e e n m e t i n t h i s c a s e . t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s f o u n d t o b e i n e l i g i b l e f o r i n c o m e r e a s o n a b l e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e a p p l i c a b l e c o n f i r m s t h e d e c i s i o n .
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.