Recovery of allowance

If the unemployment fund learns of factors that affect the payment of the allowance after it has been paid, the excess allowance may need to be recovered. This can happen due to the TE Office issuing a labour policy statement that takes effect retroactively, other retroactive allowance, or an error by the fund. When applying for the allowance, you also need to inform the fund if you are applying for any other social security benefits even if you have not yet received a decision on your application.

According to the Unemployment Security Act, the fund must recover allowance that has been paid unduly or in excess. The fund must correct the error regardless of what caused the excess payment.

The fund will send the recipient a hearing letter before deciding on the recovery. In the hearing letter, the recipient has the opportunity to provide their explanation for the excess payment and propose a repayment plan to the fund. If necessary, the fund must obtain permission to correct its previous decision from the recipient of the allowance. If the recipient does not give their permission to correct the fund’s wrongful decision, the fund must obtain permission to reverse the decision from the Social Security Appeal Board. After hearing the recipient, the fund issues an appealable decision on the recovery and a new decision on the recipient’s allowance.

The fund may also waive the recovery in whole or partially if this is deemed reasonable. This requires that the undue or excess payment was not due to fraud. Recovery may also be waived if the overpayment is negligible. If you wish to reduce the amount to be recovered to a more reasonable sum, you need to provide us with an account of your financial and social circumstances.

Finally, the fund issues an appealable decision on the recovery and a new decision on the recipient’s allowance.