Argh!

[mousme]

I should have expected red tape. Really, I should know better by now.

At this rate, I should be receiving EI benefits somewhere around the end of November. I've never received EI benefits before. Why does the "two weeks" refrain sound so familiar? Oh, wait.

Actually, it's not two weeks. It's 28 days *after* the receipt of all the paperwork. And wouldn't you know it, in spite of my having obsessively gathered everything the website told me I'd need before going today, I was *still* told that I was missing a form. So that form will be ready for me this Friday.

So, if I'm blindingly optimistic, I figure it'll be the end of November before I see any kind of money from our government.

*sigh*

Also, the webform is not fantastic. It could be much worse, but some of it was kind of ambiguous.

Okay, I've finished bitching now.

Comments

[alcinoe.livejournal.com]

That is the way it is in Massachusetts too. By the time you get the unemployment benefits, you have already found a job and have defaulted on most of your bills. It is ridiculous and should happen much faster, but I think that they make it this drawn out on purpose. They are hoping that people see how long it will take and give up and get a job flipping burgers.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm halfway tempted to try and find something small and insignificant to tide me over until my application is processed. Apparently here you can still qualify for EI if your earnings are under a certain percentage of your benefits. And any money is better than no money, right?

[joenotcharles.livejournal.com]

Be aware that if there's any dispute, they'll cut you off until it's resolved, and pay you the missed sums when it's resolved in your favour. So if you're living week-to-week, it's important not to do anything they might not like. (Miss a report, leave the province without telling them, etc.)

[forthright.livejournal.com]

Yeah, unfortunately, despite the huge surplus it runs every year, EI is decidedly skewed against the person who just needs something to tide them over for a month or two before finding new work, due to the limitations you mention. It's almost as if they *want* you to be unemployed long-term. The popular notion that the EI programme has too much money and thus EI premiums ought to be cut back is nonsense - they just need to fix it so that normal unemployment situations like yours are covered.