Correct Allocation of Vacation Pay in Employment Insurance Benefits Case

Citation: Canada Employment Insurance Commission v RD , 2026  SST  36 Social Security Tribunal of Canada Appeal Division Decision Appellant: [redacted] Representative: [NAME] Respondent: [redacted] Decision under appeal: General Division decision dated December 1, 2025 (GE-25-2872) Tribunal member: [NAME] of hearing: In writing Decision date: January 20, 2026 File number: AD-25-839 On this page Decision Overview The parties agree on the outcome of the appeal Remedy Conclusion Decision [ 1 ] I am granting leave to appeal and also allowing the appeal. [ 2 ] The Claimant’s vacation pay of $8,429.52 is allocated at $569.43 for the week of April 9-16, 2023, and at $878.43 in the weeks thereafter. Any remainder less than $878.43 is allocated to the final week. Overview [ 3 ] The Appellant is the Canada Employment Insurance Commission, but I will call it the Commission. The Respondent is R. D. I will call him the Claimant because this application is about his claim for Employment Insurance ( EI ) benefits. [ 4 ] On June 17, 2025, the Commission decided that the Claimant received $18,429.52 in earnings on separation, and that these earnings needed to be applied against his benefits from May 7, 2023, to September 2, 2023. [ 5 ] The Claimant asked the Commission to reconsider but it made only one small change, It applied his earnings against benefits from April 9, 2023, to September 9, 2023. It did not otherwise change its decision. The Claimant appealed to the General Division which held that the $10,000.00 was not earnings. It decided that only the vacation pay should have been allocated. It allocated the vacation pay at $878.43 per week, beginning with the week of April 9, 2023. [ 6 ] The Commission disagreed with how the General Division allocated the vacation pay. It applied to the Appeal Division for permission to appeal the General Division decision. [ 7 ] I am granting leave to appeal and also allowing the appeal. The General Division made an error of fact by failing to consider that the Claimant had earnings from employment in the week of April 9-16, 2023. The parties agree on the outcome of the appeal [ 8 ] The Commission does not challenge the General Division’s decision that the $10,000 should not be considered earnings or allocated. [ 9 ] It argued that the General Division had failed to account for the $309.00 in earnings received by the Claimant on April 10, 2023. It also noted what appears to be a typographical error in the amount of the vacation pay. [ 10 ] It appeared that the Commission’s appeal would not disadvantage the Claimant if successful, so I held a settlement conference on January 20, 2026. [ 11 ] The Parties agreed on the outcome of the appeal. They agreed that the General Division failed to consider evidence that the Claimant had earnings in the week of April 9-16, 2023. This affected the General Division’s finding that the Claimant’s vacation pay should be allocated at $878.43 beginning with this week. So, the General Division made an error of fact. [ 12 ] They also agreed that the General Division misstated the vacation pay where it said that it was $8,492.52. Footnote 1 [ 13 ] The Parties also agreed that only $569.43 of the vacation pay should be allocated to the week of April 9-16, 2023 (so that the Claimant’s earnings in that week together with the amount of vacation pay allocated would total the Claimant’s usual normal weekly earnings of $878.43). The balance of the Claimant’s vacation pay would be allocated at $878.43 per week until it had been fully allocated. Any remainder less than $878.43 is allocated to the last week. [ 14 ] The parties also agreed that the correct vacation pay figure should have been $8,429.52. The General Division likely made a typographical error at paragraph 30 of its decision. It referred to the correct figure at paragraphs 12 and 14, which is consistent with the evidence in the record. Footnote 2 Remedy [ 15 ] I am making the decision that the General Division should have made, in order to give effect to the agreement of the parties. [ 16 ] The file record confirms that the Claimant had $309.00 of earnings from employment in the week of April 9-16, 2023. Footnote 3 Therefore, only $569.43 of the Claimant’s $8,429.52 vacation pay may be allocated to that week. The balance of vacation pay shall be allocated at the Claimant’s normal weekly earnings of $878.43, beginning with the following week. Conclusion [ 17 ] I am allowing the appeal. The General Division made an error of fact by ignoring the $309.00 in income in the week of April 9-16, 2023. [ 18 ] I have corrected that error in accordance with the agreement of the parties. $569.43 of the Claimant’s $8,429.52 vacation pay is allocated to the week of April 9-16, 2023. The balance of vacation pay is allocated to subsequent weeks at $878.43. Any amount left over is allocated to the final week. Footnotes Footnote 1 See para 30 of the General Division decision. Return to footnote 1 Footnote 2 See GD3-25 (Record of Employment), GD3-41, and GD3-41. Return to footnote 2 Footnote 3 See GD3-39: GD3-41. Return to footnote 3