APPEAi I PART C -Decision under Appeal The decision under appeal is the reconsideration decision dated July 3, 2014 in which the ministry denied income assistance to the appellant, pursuant to section 9 of the Employment and Assistance Act (EAA), for failing to comply with the conditions of her employment plan. PART D -Relevant Legislation Employment and Assistance Act (EAA) section 9 EAAT 003( 10/06/01)
P A R T E S u m m a r v o f F a c t s T h e i n f o r m a t i o n 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 r e " A n e m p l o y m e n t p l a n ( E P ) s i g n e d b y t h e a p r e q u i r e d t h e a p p e l l a n t t o c o m p l e t e a m i n i m u a n d m a i n t a i n a r e c o r d o f h e r a c t i v i t i e s . T h e m t o b e s u b m i t t e d t o t h e m i n i s t r y b y t h e 5 t h o f e a s s i g n e d t o h e r c o n t a c t t h e m i n i s t r y a n d i f s h a n y r e a s o n . " A h a n d w r i t t e n l e t t e r f r o m t h e a p p e l l a n t s u b m J u l y 2 , 2 0 1 4 . I n t h e l e t t e r t h e a p p e l l a n t a r g u e b y s u b m i t t i n g h e r w o r k r e l a t e d a c t i v i t y r e c o r d h a d a t t e n d e d t h e m i n i s t r y o f f i c e t o p i c k u p h e s h e w a s n o t t o l d t h a t h e r a c t i v i t y r e c o r d w a s m i n i s t r y h a d s e n t h e r t h e a c t i v i t y r e c o r d s o f a q u e s t i o n t h e r e l i a b i l i t y o f t h e m i n i s t r y ' s r e c o r h a v e m i s p l a c e d h e r a c t i v i t y r e c o r d s i n e r r o r . A t t h e h e a r i n g t h e a p p e l l a n t t o l d t h e p a n e l t h a t s h e S h e s t a t e d s h e d r o p p e d t h e a c t i v i t y r e c o r d s i n t o t h e r e q u i r e d h o w e v e r , d u e t o t h e m i n i s t r y ' s p o o r r e c o r d o r m i s f i l e d . I n s u p p o r t o f h e r a r g u m e n t s h e e x p l a i n e i n c o r r e c t l y a n d s e n t h e r s o m e o n e e l s e ' s a c t i v i t y r e c e r r o r s a r e i n d i c a t i v e o f s l o p p y i n t e r n a l m i n i s t r y c o n t T h e a p p e l l a n t w a s a c c o m p a n i e d b y t w o w i t n e s s e s m i n i s t r y o f f i c e . W h e n t h e f i r s t w i t n e s s w a s a s k e d f o a p p e l l a n t d r o p p e d o f f n o r t h e a p p r o x i m a t e m o n t h s h s u f f e r s f r o m d e m e n t i a a n d t h e r e f o r e h a s a p o o r m e a p p e l l a n t d r o p o f f d o c u m e n t s t o t h e m i n i s t r y o f f i c e b o t h e r d e t a i l a b o u t w h a t h e s a w . W h e n t h e a p p e l l a n t w a s a s k e d b y t h e p a n e l i f s h e h a c t i v i t i e s s h e s a i d s h e h a s n o r e c o r d e x c e p t f o r a f e d i d n o t , h o w e v e r , b r i n g t h o s e p a p e r s w i t h h e r . S h e w o r k s e a r c h a c t i v i t i e s c o n t a i n e d i n t h e r e c o r d s s h e h a s b e e n c o n d u c t i n g 2 5 h o u r s o f w o r k r e l a t e d a c t i v i T h e a p p e l l a n t s t a t e d s h e d r o p p e d o f f a n a d d r e s s c h M a y 2 6 , 2 0 1 4 h o w e v e r t h e m i n i s t r y r e c e i v e d o n l y t h p a n e l w h i c h m o n t h ' s r e c o r d s h e w a s d e l i v e r i n g o n t h t h e r e c o r d d u e o n J u n e 5 . S h e t h o u g h t s h e m i g h t h a m o r e w e e k i n M a y t h a t s h e n e e d e d t o r e c o r d . A t t h e h e a r i n g t h e m i n i s t ry r e v i e w e d t h e r e c o n s i d e r a i n t h e E P s i g n e d b y t h e a p p e l l a n t . T h e m i n i s t ry s t a t e r e c e i v e d i n t h e m a i l b o x i n c l u d i n g a c t i v i t y r e c o r d s . T h f i l e a n d t h e n t h e o a o e r d o c u m e n t i s b a t c h f i l e d b y d E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )I A P P E A L c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n c l u d e d t h e f o l l o w i n g : p e l l a n t d a t e d M a r c h 2 7 , 2 0 1 4 . T h e a g r e e m e n t m o f 2 5 h o u r s o f w o r k r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s p e r w e e k o n t h l y r e c o r d o f h e r w o r k r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s w e r e a c h m o n t h . S h e w a s t o c o m p l e t e a l l t a s k s e i s u n a b l e t o f o l l o w t h r o u g h o n h e r o b l i g a t i o n s f o r i t t e d w i t h t h e 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 s s h e h a s c o m p l i e d w i t h t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f h e r E P b y t h e 5 t h o f e a c h m o n t h . S h e a d d e d t h a t s h e r a s s i s t a n c e c h e q u e o n t w o d i f f e r e n t m o n t h s a n d m i s s i n g f o r p r i o r m o n t h s . S h e w r o t e t h a t t h e n o t h e r p e r s o n i n e r r o r a n d t h a t c a u s e s h e r t o d k e e p i n g . S h e p r o p o s e s t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y m a y u n d e r s t o o d w h a t w a s r e q u i r e d o f h e r b y t h e E P . m i n i s t r y m a i l b o x b y t h e 5 t h o f e a c h m o n t h a s k e e p i n g , s h e s u s p e c t s h e r r e c o r d s h a v e b e e n l o s t d t h a t t h e m i n i s t r y r e c o r d e d h e r h o m e a d d r e s s o r d s i n t h e m a i l i n e r r o r . S h e a r g u e d t h a t t h e s e r o l s . w h o s t a t e d t h e y s a w h e r d r o p o f f d o c u m e n t s t o t h e r d e t a i l s b y t h e p a n e l s h e c o u l d n o t r e c a l l w h a t t h e e w a s w i t h h e r . T h e w i t n e s s e x p l a i n e d t h a t s h e m o r y . T h e s e c o n d w i t n e s s s a i d h e s a w t h e u t w a s u n a b l e t o r e c a l l e i t h e r t h e m o n t h o r a n y a d a n y d e t a i l s a b o u t a n y o f h e r w o r k r e l a t e d w n o t e s w r i t t e n o n p a p e r s a r o u n d h e r h o u s e ; s h e s a i d s h e c o u l d n o t r e c a l l f r o m m e m o r y a n y o f h e r d e l i v e r e d t o t h e m i n i s t r y . S h e m a i n t a i n e d t h a t s h e t i e s p e r w e e k s i n c e s h e s i g n e d h e r E P . a n g e d o c u m e n t a l o n g w i t h h e r a c t i v i t y r e c o r d o n e a d d r e s s c h a n g e d o c u m e n t . W h e n a s k e d b y t h e e 2 6 1 \ s h e s a i d s h e d i d n ' t k n o w b u t i t w a s l i k e l y v e d r o p p e d i t o f f e v e n t h o u g h t h e r e w a s s t i l l o n e t i o n d e c i s i o n i n c l u d i n g t h e o b l i g a t i o n s c o n t a i n e d d t h e r e a r e s t r i c t i n t e r n a l c o n t r o l s t o h a n d l e m a i l e r e c o r d s a r e s c a n n e d i n t o t h e c l i e n t ' s e l e c t r o n i c a t e s o i t c a n b e e a s i l y r e t r i e v e d i n t h e f u t u r e i f
n e c e s s a r y . T h e m i n i s t ry c o n c e d e d t h a t t h e o f f i c e m m i s p l a c e a d o c u m e n t ; h o w e v e r , i t i s e x t r e m e l y u n l i k s a m e c l i e n t 3 m o n t h s i n a r o w . T h e m i n i s t r y a d d e d m i n i s t r y e m p l o y e e t o o k t h e i n c o r r e c t d o c u m e n t o f f b e f o r e p u t t i n g t h e m i n t h e m a i l . T h e m i n i s t r y i s c o n T h e m i n i s t r y t o l d t h e � a n e l t h a t c l i e n t f i l e s a r e a u d i t r e v i e w e d o n J u n e 1 6 i t w a s d i s c o v e r e d t h a t t h e m a n d t h e r e f o r e s i g n a l e d h e r a s s i s t a n c e c h e q u e f o r J J u n e 2 6 a n d w a s i n f o r m e d s h e w a s n o t e l i g i b l e f o r t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f h e r E P . W h e n a s k e d a b o u t t h e e r r o r o n t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s a d d i n v e s t i g a t e b u t i t a p p e a r e d t h a t t h e s t r e e t n u m b e r w h u m a n e r r o r . T h e p a n e l f i n d s a s f a c t : • T h e a p p e l l a n t s i g n e d a n E P o n M a r c h 2 7 , 2 0 r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s t o t h e m i n i s t r y b y t h e 5 t h o f e • T h e m i n i s t ry m a d e a n e r r o r w h e n r e c o r d i n g t i n c o r r e c t l y . • T h e m i n i s t r y m a i l e d t h e a p p e l l a n t t h e a c t i v i t y E M T 0 0 3 ( 1 0 / 0 6 / 0 1 )A P P E A ' I i g h t , a t t i m e s , m a k e a n e r r o r w i t h a c l i e n t ' s f i l e o r e l y t h e o f f i c e w o u l d m a k e t h e s a m e e r r o r o n t h e t h e p r i v a c y b r e a c h i n v e s t i g a t i o n c o n c l u d e d a o f a s h a r e d p r i n t e r a n d d i d n o t r e v i e w t h e c o n t e n t s f i d e n t i t w a s a n i s o l a t e d i n c i d e n t . e d b i m o n t h l y . W h e n t h e a p p e l l a n t ' s f i l e w a s i n i s t r y h a d n o t r e c e i v e d a n y o f h e r a c t i v i t y r e c o r d s u n e . T h e a p p e l l a n t w e n t t o t h e m i n i s t r y o f f i c e o n a s s i s t a n c e b e c a u s e o f h e r f a i l u r e t o c o m p l y w i t h r e s s t h e m i n i s t r y t o l d t h e p a n e l t h a t s h e d i d n o t a s e n t e r e d w i t h o n e i n c o r r e c t d i g i t l i k e l y d u e t o 1 4 r e q u i r i n g h e r t o s u b m i t a r e c o r d o f h e r w o r k a c h m o n t h . h e a p p e l l a n t ' s h o m e a d d r e s s b y e n t e r i n g o n e d i g i t r e c o r d s f o r a n o t h e r c l i e n t i n e r r o r .
APPEA I PART F -Reasons for Panel Decision The issue under appeal in this case is the reasonableness of the ministry's decision to deny the appellant income assistance, pursuant to section 9 of the Employment and Assistance Act (EAA), for failing to comply with the conditions of her employment plan. The ministry determined the appellant did not submit the required work related activity records to the ministry by the 5 th of each month. Section 9 of the Employment and Assistance Act states: 9 (1) For a family unit to be eligible for income assistance or hardship assistance, each applicant or recipient in the family unit, when required to do so by the minister, must (a) enter into an employment plan, and (b) comply with the conditions in the employment plan. (2) A dependent youth, when required to do so by the minister, must (a) enter into an employment plan, and (b) comply with the conditions in the employment plan. (3) The minister may specify the conditions in an employment plan including, without limitation, a condition requiring the applicant, recipient or dependent youth to participate in a specific employment-related program that, in the minister's opinion, will assist the applicant, recipient or dependent youth to (a) find employment, or (b) become more employable. (4) If an employment plan includes a condition requiring an applicant, a recipient or a dependent youth to participate in a specific employment-related program, that condition is not met if the person (a) fails to demonstrate reasonable efforts to participate in the program, or (b) ceases, except for medical reasons, to participate in the program. The argument of the appellant is that she did deliver the activity reports by the 5 th of each month but the ministry likely misfiled them. The argument of the ministry is that the appellant did not submit the activity reports by the 5 th of each month and that it is very unlikely that the office would have misfiled 3 months of records. In coming to its decision the panel considered the appellant's argument that she delivered the activity records to the ministry office. The panel weighed this argument with the fact that the appellant could not recall any detail of her work related activities from the time she signed the EP on March 27 to June 26 when she was found ineligible. This period of time is 13 weeks, during which she would have been conducting work related activities for 25 hours per week totaling 325 hours of activities. The appellant did not have any documentation supporting her claim that she engaged in work search activities. The panel considered the testimony of the witnesses in which they said they saw the appellant drop off the documents to the ministry office. The panel found that they were not persuasive in supporting the appellant's claim. The first witness was unable to offer any detail of the general timeframe of the document drop-off and she was unsure of what the aooellant delivered. The witness told the panel EMT 003(10/06/01)
I APPE: 7 that she suffers from dementia making it difficult to rely on her testimony. The second witness stated he saw her drop off documents of some kind at some time in the past. He could not recall the month he was with her nor how long ago he was with her. The panel considered the appellant's argument that due to the errors the ministry admits to making on her file in the past, including sending her someone else's activity records, it is reasonable that they have misplaced her records. The panel reviewed the ministry's testimony that this breach of privacy was investigated and was an isolated incident. An employee taking the wrong documents off of a shared printer caused it. The ministry provided an overview of the protocols for handling incoming mail and how it is scanned and stored. The panel is satisfied with the ministry's explanation and finds that the ministry was reasonable to determine that the possibility that all the appellant's work activity records being misfiled, as suggested by the appellant, is unlikely. The panel finds the ministry was reasonable to find the appellant ineligible for assistance because of her failure to comply with the conditions of her EP as required by the EAA section 9. The panel finds that the ministry's decision was a reasonable application of the applicable enactment in the circumstances of the appellant and confirms the decision. EAAT 003(10/06/01)
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