If you have been a long-time reader of our newsletter, you might have noticed that it was rather unusual for us to run an older article last month. To say last month was chaotic, would be an understatement!
My wife and I were up north at Starfest, Canada’s largest astronomy gathering, and one of my “happy places” to go in the summer, when Bridget received a call that her dad had been sent to ER by his doctor. Her dad had been having some pain issues from a bone fracture, and then started to find it difficult to breathe. To everyone’s shock, the culprit turned out to be a lung cancer which had spread everywhere by the time the diagnosis arrived. After numerous tests and scans, a few days later, it became apparent that treatment was not an option.
My father-in-law is a wonderful man, one of the finest people I have ever met. I once worked with a colleague for many years, and upon her retirement, I took her out for lunch, only to discover that Bridget’s dad was not only her favorite teacher she ever had, but also her daughter’s. I would hear this kind of story over and over again through the years – he was the kind of person that left a mark on everyone he met.
As the terminal diagnosis became apparent, it was wonderful to watch the family come together. Bridget and her siblings took turns to be caregiver, and aide-de-camp to their mom. With the uncertain timeframe – we had been told to expect weeks to months – they agreed that one of the kids would be on Caregiver Leave from work to assist.
EI Caregiver Leave – an important benefit for families
When my mom was dying of cancer a decade ago, there were few social resources in place to assist family who were caring for a terminally ill loved one. A year after she passed, the Federal Government introduced a new EI program, that allows for family to take time of work to look after critically ill or terminally ill family. Most provinces also have integrated statutory leaves that coordinate with the EI program, including my home province of Ontario.
As a newer program, many people (our family included!) are not aware of some of the intricacies of how this works. It was an eye-opening experience for us, as the program has very different rules than other employment insurance situations.
For a terminally ill family member, there are 26 weeks of leave available, or in the case of a critical (non-terminal) illness, the leave is 15 weeks for an adult patient, or 35 weeks if a child is the patient. Unlike other EI benefits, the timeframe is not based on the worker, but on the patient themselves. So, as we discovered, Bridget and her siblings could share a combined 26 weeks of leave in total – not 26 weeks each. Like other EI benefits, there is a one week waiting period before benefits begin. If multiple family members are taking the leave, then the first person to apply must take the waiting period loss, but once that one week is done, other family members would be eligible for immediate EI payments.
Interestingly, the definition of family member is quite flexible. The legislation states that you have to be family or “like family” to access the benefits. If there is no direct blood relationship, the patient (or their power of attorney) can sign a form indicating that you are considered “like family” to them to authorize a leave. This is a great “feature” for single individuals, or for situations where the patient may be estranged from their direct family.
After some investigating, Bridget and her siblings decided that Bridget would take the first shift of caregiving leave. Her employer was the most generous, offering up to 8 weeks of EI topup under a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB), similar to how some employers top up parental leaves. Once that expired, Bridget would return to work and another sibling would step in to assist with caregiving.
Bridget’s last day of employment was Friday, and that night we filed her EI claim, and had her father’s doctors provide the appropriate paperwork on their end. Unbeknownst to us, that evening her dad slipped into his terminal coma. This was a complete shock, as on the Thursday Bridget and her mom had been able to take him outside in a wheelchair, and frankly, he seemed the best he had in weeks. By Sunday afternoon, he was gone, and we were all devastated. Weeks had turned into days, and then hours. I’m glad we had those days to say our goodbyes, but we are all still reeling at the loss.
Under the EI caregiver rules, the caregiving leave period ends at the end of the week in which the patient dies, with the week being defined as Sunday to Saturday. Had he passed on Saturday, there would be no legislative caregiving leave. With his passing on Sunday, however, Bridget would be entitled to statutory leave until the following week. This got me thinking about a family situation where the date of death would be a Saturday – technically, here in Ontario, the employer could require the employee to show up for work Monday – 48 hours or less later. Fortunately, Bridget’s employer was very easy to work with, and agreed to retroactively move her to Bereavement leave, which was financially a better option for her, as she would have still been in the 1 week EI waiting period and not receive any benefits.
Planning ahead makes a huge difference.
Bridget’s dad was impeccably well organized, and was always fond of his checklists. He left us an incredible gift of organization. Every family member knew where the two briefcases were that held important documents in case of emergency. Inside there was crucial paperwork like marriage certificates, birth certificates, passports, instructions for his funeral, and paperwork on the vehicle that was in his name. His funeral had been prepaid, and the contact information for the funeral home was there as well. His planning has made the last few difficult weeks much easier for everyone. What is remarkable is with the speed of his diagnosis, putting this all together would have been impossible had he not had the forethought to do it when he was healthy.
The last few weeks have been surreal for our family, and we are all coping with both the emotional and practical aspects of losing Bridget’s father. I met him when I was 17 years old, and in that time he’s been like a second father to me. While many people complain about their in-laws, in my case I have been blessed to marry into a remarkable family, for which I am immensely grateful. We’ve been working through the mundane practical aspects of his passing – car registration changes, transferring pensions, and all the other “stuff” that needs to be done, while sharing many wonderful treasured memories with each other.
I’ve written extensively about estate and financial planning for many years, but it is always at times like this I recall the real-world importance of why we all need to be proactive in thinking about what happens after we are gone. My father-in-law, like so many other things in his lifetime, was a planner. We can all learn from his example in this, and so many other things, that it is far better to be overprepared than underprepared.
Ryan