Glossary - Employment and Work
Insurable employment means that you’re doing a job that’s covered by Employment Insurance (EI). Most jobs are covered if you’re an employee. This applies even if you don’t have a written contract. And it does not matter how you’re paid, for example, if you get a salary or are paid by the hour. If you work for yourself, you’re usually not covered. But there are situations where you might be.
Insurable hours are the hours you worked doing a job covered by Employment Insurance (EI). You must work a certain number of insurable hours to get EI benefits. How many hours you must work depends on the type of EI benefits that you’re applying for. For example, you must usually work for at least 600 hours to get sickness benefits.
To qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, you must have an interruption of earnings. Your employer must fill out a Record of Employment (ROE) every time this happens.
If you’re applying for regular EI benefits, an interruption of earnings happens when you go 7 days without doing any work or getting any pay from your employer.
If you’re applying for special EI benefits, an interruption of earnings happens when your normal weekly earnings go down by more than 40%. Special benefits include sickness benefits, maternity or parental benefits, compassionate care benefits, and family caregiver benefits.
