PART C -DECISION UNDER APPEAL The decision under appeal is the April 19, 2018 Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Reconsideration Decision which held that Employment Insurance (El) funds received in March 2018 are considered unearned income according to section 1 of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation (EAPWDR) and must be deducted from the appellant's May 2018 assistance amount to determine the amount he is eligible to receive in accordance with section 24 of the EAPWDR. PART D -RELEVANT LEGISLATION EAPWDR sections 1and 24. Schedule A Schedule B.
P A R T E S U M M A R Y O F F A C T S 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 h a t h e w a s a p p r o v e d t h a t h e r e c e i v e d a t o t a l o f $ 3 4 0 i n t h e m o n t h o f M a r c h . O a c c o u n t w i t h S e r v i c e C a n a d a o u t l i n i n g h i s E l p a y m e n t s . O n M a r c h 2 3 , 2 0 1 8 t h e m i n i s t r y a d v i s e d t h e a p p e l l a n t t h d e d u c t e d f r o m h i s M a y 2 0 1 8 a s s i s t a n c e . I n h i s A p r i l 9 , 2 0 1 8 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 s u b m i s s i i n s u r a n c e a s a l l o w a b l e u n d e r a n n u a l e m p l o y m e n t i n c o m e m p l o y e d p e r s o n p a y s i n t o i n s u r a n c e t o p r o t e c t a g a i n s t l o s s o f e m p l o y m e n t i n c o m e . " H o w e v e r , w h e n s o m e o n e o c r i s i s l i k e I h a v e r e c e n t l y t h e E l p a y m e n t s a r e d e d u c t e d m e a s u r e s t o c o m b a t t h e l o s t i n c o m e f r o m m y b u d g e t . T h I n h i s N o t i c e o f A p p e a l d a t e d A p r i l 2 5 , 2 0 1 8 t h e a p p e l l a n d i s a b i l i t i e s v e r s u s n o n d i s a b l e d p e o p l e w h o g a i n q u a n t i t f o r m e d i c a l E l b e n e f i t s a t t h e r a t e o f $ 1 7 0 / w e e k l y a n d n M a r c h 2 3 , 2 0 1 8 h e s u b m i t t e d a s c r e e n s h o t o f h i s o n l i n e a t t h e e m p l o y m e n t i n s u r a n c e h e r e c e i v e d w o u l d b e o n t h e a p p e l l a n t s t a t e d t h a t n o t c l a s s i fy i n g e m p l o y m e n t e a l l o w a n c e i s m o r a l l y a n d e t h i c a l l y w r o n g . E v e ry u n f o r e s e e n p r o b l e m s w h i c h i s i n t e n d e d t o h e l p m i t i g a t e t h e n d i s a b i l i t y w h o h a d b e e n w o r k i n g p a r t t i m e h a s a m e d i c a l f r o m t h e i r d i s a b i l i t y i n c o m e r e s u l t i n g i n n o r e a l o ff s e t t i n g i s i s n o t r i g h t . " t w r i t e s t h a t l e g i s l a t i o n u n f a i r l y p u n i s h e s p e o p l e w i t h a t i v e b e n e f i t s f r o m E l w h i l e d i s a b l e d p e o p l e g a i n n o n e .
PART F -REASONS FOR PANEL DECISION The issue in this appeal is whether the ministry's reconsideration decision which held that El funds received in March 2018 are considered unearned income according to section 1 of the EAPWDR and must be deducted from the appellant's May 2018 assistance amount to determine the amount he is eligible to receive in accordance with section 24 of the EAPWDR is a reasonable application of the legislation in the appellant's circumstances or is reasonably supported by the evidence. Definitions 1 (l)In this regulation: "unearned income" means any income that is not earned income, and includes, without limitation, money or value received from any of the following: ... (g)employment insurance; ... Amount of disability assistance 24 Disability 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. Schedule B Deduction and exemption rules 1 When calculating the net income of a family unit for the purposes of section 24 (b) [amount of disability assistance] of this regulation, (d)all unearned income must be included, ... Appellant's Position: The appellant argues that his El income should not be deducted from his disability assistance because legislation unfairly punishes people with disabilities; while non-disabled people gain quantitative benefits from El, disabled people's El does not offset their loss of income. Ministry position: Section 1 of the EAPWDR defines "unearned income" as any income that is not earned income, and includes, without limitation, money or value received from employment insurance. Schedule B sections 1, 6 and 7 set out types of unearned income that may be deducted or exempted from the calculation of the appellant's monthly income. Employment Insurance (El) benefits are not listed as a type of unearned income that may be excluded from the calculation. Under section 24 of the EAPWDR the amount of monthly assistance is determined by deducting the amount of income calculated under Schedule B from the amount of shelter and support allowances calculated under Schedule A.
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P A R T G O R D E R T H E P A N E L D E C I S I O N I S : ( C h e c k o n e ) � U N A N I M O U S 0 B Y M A J O R I T Y T H E P A N E L � 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 0 R E S C I N D S T H E M I N I S T R Y D E C I S I O N I f t h e m i n i s t r y d e c i s i o n i s r e s c i n d e d , i s t h e p a n e l d e c i s i o n r e f e r r e d b a c k t o t h e M i n i s t e r f o r a d e c i s i o n a s t o a m o u n t ? O Y e s O N o L E G I S L A T I V E A U T H O R I T Y F O R T H E D E C I S 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 S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 1 ) ( a ) � a n d S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 1 ) ( b ) � a n d S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 2 ) ( a ) � o r S e c t i o n 2 4 ( 2 ) ( b ) D P A R T H S I G N A T U R E S P R I N T N A M E I n g e M o r r i s s e y S I G N A T U R E O F C H A I R D A T E ( Y E A R J M O N T H ID A Y ) 2 0 1 8 / 0 6 / 0 6 P R I N T N A M E D a w n M a r t i n S I G N A T U R E O F M E M B E R D A T E ( Y E A R / M O N T H / D A Y ) 2 0 1 8 / 0 6 / 0 6 P R I N T N A M E A n d r e w M u r r a y S I G N A T U R E O F M E M B E R D A T E ( Y E A R / M O N T H / D A Y ) 2 0 1 8 / 0 6 / 0 6
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