Voluntary, Employment Insurance (EI) program designed to avert temporary layoffs by providing Employment Insurance Income Benefits to eligible clients who willingly agree to work a temporarily reduced work week

• Work-Sharing enables employers to retain workers and avoid layoffs during temporary work slowdowns and employees are able to maintain their skills
• a three-party agreement involving employers, employees and Service Canada

• have been in business in Canada year-round for at least two years
  
• be a private business, a publicly-held company, or a not-for-profit organization
  
• demonstrate that the shortage of work is temporary and beyond their control, and is not a cyclical/recurring slowdown
  
  
• demonstrate a recent decrease in business activity of approximately 10%
  
• submit and implement a recovery plan designed to return the Work-Sharing unit(s) to normal working hours by the end of the Work-Sharing agreement
  
• must be a reasonable expectation that recovery (i.e. a return to normal work hours for all participating employees) will be achieved by the end of the agreement

• Employees being proposed for a Work-Sharing agreement must be "core employees" (i.e. year round permanent full-time or part-time employees who are required to carry out the everyday functions of normal business activity)
  
• be eligible to receive Employment Insurance benefits
  
• agree to a reduction of their normal working hours in order to share the available work

• Drop-in
• For online application instructions go to Apply for Work-Sharing Program and provide employees with a copy of the Employee Annex before submitting an application, both available on-line
  • mail completed application in Ontario to: Employer Program Supports, Service Canada Processing Center, PO Box 6500, Station Don Mills, Toronto ON M3C 0L4
• to request a phone call from a Service Canada representative about this program complete an online request at Service Request
• for people who do not have internet access call 1-877-355-2657 Mon-Fri 8:30 am-4 pm