Dear members,
There is a new government support that those with family care obligations may be eligible to apply for. The employer has posted the following information on the Hub:
There is a new federal benefit, The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), that staff who are caring for a sick child or family member may be eligible to apply for.
Please check out this link for more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/benefits/recovery-caregiving-benefit.html
At the time of writing, October 20, 2020, the following information is in keeping with the new CRCB.
The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) gives income support to employed individuals who are unable to work because they must care for their child under 12 years old or a family member who needs supervised care. This applies if their school, regular program or facility is closed or unavailable to them due to COVID-19, or because they are sick, self-isolating, or at risk of serious health complications due to COVID-19. The CRCB is administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
If you are eligible for the CRCB, your household can receive $500 ($450 after taxes withheld) for each 1-week period.
If your situation continues past 1 week, you will need to apply again. You may apply up to a total of 26 weeks between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021.
At VPL, we have the Family Illness benefit (See c/a 11.5.12) that gives employees who meet the requirements up to 3 sick leave days per calendar year to care for an immediate member of the employee’s family. Employees may also use earned quotas or request a leave without pay (See c/a 12.1 Leave of Absence).
You may be asked to provide the following items to Service Canada when you apply for the CRCB or if your application requires validation:
- Documents (letter, notification, email) showing the person under your care is unable to go to school, daycare, day program or care facility due to COVID-19 – Employees will need to provide these documents directly to Service Canada.
- Recent pay slips – Employees will need to provide their pay slips directly to Service Canada.
- Employment verification letter, including salary, if accessible online – If requested by Service Canada, please request this letter from HR at hr@vpl.ca and we will provide it to you to send in to Service Canada.
- Record of Employment (ROE) – VPL Payroll will automatically submit the ROE electronically to Service Canada.
- Bank statements showing name, address, and payroll deposit – Employees will need to provide directly these statements directly to Service Canada.
Please speak to your supervisor, manager or contact HR at hr@vpl.ca if you have any further questions.
We hope this is helpful for some of you in navigating the challenges around family care at this time. We will share more information if/as it becomes available.
In solidarity,
Kari