Page 24
Decision No.: 2022-0246
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First and foremost, we have found under Issue 2 that the position of a car
dealership receptionist is a suitable position for the worker. There were positions
available and accessible to the worker, as demonstrated by the current job leads
provided, and the worker had the required skills for the job. The position was not
inconsistent with his vocational, social, physical or psychological circumstances.
Accordingly, we are satisfied that the WCB satisfied its responsibility under the
policy to the return the worker to employability.
Second, while the worker was not able to obtain a position as a car dealership
receptionist by the time the SJS benefits were stopped, Policy explicitly indicates
that the WCB is not responsible for returning the worker to employment, as the
WCB has no control over factors such as economic conditions or an employer’s
decision about whom to hire. It is unfortunate that the worker was not able to
obtain employment, but this, in and of itself, is insufficient to support continued
SJS benefits.
Third, we do not accept the worker’s argument that the WCB told him that he
would receive SJS benefits until December 24, 2020. We have reviewed the
August 12, 2020 letter. In it, the WCB case manager indicated that due to the
high unemployment rate and because the worker worked for his employer for
less than a month, he would be entitled to an extension of “up to 18 weeks.” This
would take the benefits up to December 24, 2020. However, it is explicitly noted
that the benefits would end sooner if:
The worker found a job.
The re-employment team gave the worker a current job lead. In this
case, the worker’s benefits would stop one week after he was given
the job lead. If he was pursuing work from the job lead, benefits would
continue until the re-employment team has provided all available
assistance to help the worker get the job.
The worker was not actively participating in a job search and/or
not meeting the expectations for the job search that the worker, his
re-employment specialist and the case worker agreed upon.
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Accordingly, we do not view the letter as a commitment by the WCB to extend
the benefits until December 24, 2020. Instead, it is clear that the SJS benefits
could end sooner if certain conditions arose.
The evidence shows that the worker was provided a current job lead for car
dealership receptionist. Therefore, in accordance with the August letter, the SJS
benefits ended sooner than December 24, 2020. Rather than ending the benefits
one week later as the August letter indicated, the WCB actually continued the
SJS benefits for another two weeks, until October 14, 2020.
Classification: Protected A