A record of employment, commonly referred to as an ROE, is an official document used by Service Canada to determine an employees eligibility for Employment Insurance Benefits (EI).
ROEs, or Records of Employment, are essential documents used in Canada to track an employee's work history and determine eligibility for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. Issued by employers when an employee leaves a job, ROEs detail the reasons for their departure and the hours worked. They are crucial for payroll because they ensure that employees receive accurate and timely EI benefits, reflecting their employment status and earnings. Properly managing ROEs helps maintain compliance with employment regulations and supports employees in transitioning between jobs or periods of unemployment.
Employer ROE Obligations
Employers are required to issue an ROE anytime one of their employees experiences an interruption of earnings. An interruption of earnings occurs when:
- An employee has had or is anticipated to have 7 consecutive calendar days with no work and no insurable earnings or
- When an employee's salary falls below 60% of regular weekly earnings and their loss of income is due to illness, injury, quarantine, pregnancy/maternity leave, parental leave or compassionate care/family caregiver leave.
Employers must issue an ROE each time an employee experiences an interruption of earnings or when Service Canada requests one. You can find more information of when to issue an ROE here.
If you are issuing a paper ROE, you must issue an ROE within 5 calendar days of:
- the first day of an interruption of earnings, or
- the day the employer becomes aware of an interruption of earnings
If you issue ROEs electronically and your pay period is weekly, biweekly, or semi-monthly (twice a month, usually the 15th and last day of the month), you have up to 5 calendar days after the end of the pay period in which an employee's interruption of earnings occurs to issue an electronic ROE.
If you have a monthly pay period or 13 pay periods per year (every 4 weeks), you must issue electronic ROEs by whichever date is earlier:
- 5 calendar days after the end of the pay period in which an employee experiences an interruption of earnings, or
- 15 calendar days after the first day of an interruption of earnings