Adults and families must exercise their rights and avail themselves of the benefits to which they are entitled under other legislation where the exercise of such rights or the realization of such benefits would affect their eligibility for assistance or reduce the amount of their benefits.
This obligation refers, for example, to:
- receiving a salary in accordance with the ACT RESPECTING LABOUR STANDARDS, in the case of employees and domestics.
- receiving benefits to which the client or a member of the client's family may be entitled under a QUEBEC STATUTE OR OTHER STATUTE (e.g. RRQ, SAAQ, CSST, HRDC);
- seeking remedies available from the Human Resource Centre of Canada (HRCC), in the case of PERSONS WHO WORKED CLANDESTINELY;
- seeking SUPPORT or the partition of property, in the case of married persons, persons who used to be married or persons with a minor child.
- recourse for financial assistance paid by the MEQ.
USE OF LEGAL AID SERVICES
To exercise their rights, individuals must sometimes use Legal Aid services, notably when seeking support.
In the case of applicants who agree to exercise their rights, eligibility for assistance must be assessed immediately even if the date of the meeting with an attorney has not yet been set. When they are eligible for benefits other than just special benefits, a certificate from the local employment centre constitutes evidence of status as a client.
Once it has received evidence of a client’s status, the Legal Aid office issues a legal aid eligibility certificate that enables the client to arrange a meeting with the lawyer of his or her choice or with a Legal Aid lawyer.
It should be noted that, even if the services required are not covered by Legal Aid, individuals must nevertheless take action to exercise their rights and avail themselves of the benefits to which they are entitled if doing so affects their eligibility for assistance or reduces the amount of their benefits.
WORK INCOME NOT COMPLIANT WITH THE ACT RESPECTING LABOUR STANDARDS
A client may not work several hours without receiving an appropriate remuneration. If it comes to one’s attention that the client is denied a suitable salary, he or she must claim a remuneration in compliance with the work performed to his or her employer. If the employer refuses, he or she may have to exercise remedies to the Commission des normes du travail, failing which he or she will be charged with the income he or she is denied.
This income is established according to the minimum wage in effect if the employment is subject to the Act respecting Labour Standards. It may also correspond to the salary paid by the employer to an individual in his or her employment performing the same duties with the same qualifications.
DOMESTICS must be distinguished from NANNIES OR BABYSITTERS. One of the criteria used to determine whether a person is working as a domestic is to ask whether that person would have been hired even if there were no children present.
Applicants who state that they WORKED CLANDESTINELY must go through the necessary procedures at the HRCC when their statements suggest that they held insurable employment within the meaning of the employment insurance legislation. Failure to go through these procedures will result in the refusal of assistance. Insurable employment includes employment which meets certain requirements, namely:
A client who performed clandestine work must exercise a remedy to the employment insurance if this right is not obsolete or abusive.