Wage Earner Protection Program Appeals

What is a Wage Earner Program Appeal?

A Wage Earner Protection Program Appeal, or a WEPP appeal, is an appeal of a decision of the Minister of Labour finding that either:

you are ineligible for a WEPP payment; or
the amount of the WEPP payment that you received was too high.

If you have a decision of the Minister of Labour finding that you were not eligible for a WEPP payment and you want to appeal it, go to the page entitled WEPP Eligibility Appeals.

If you have a decision of the Minister of Labour finding that you must pay back some of the WEPP payment that you received and you want to appeal it, go to the page entitled WEPP Overpayment Appeals.

If you have a decision from Service Canada that you want to appeal, before filing an appeal with the Board, you have to first request that the Minister of Labour review the Service Canada decision. The rest of this page will explain the process that you need to follow.

What is the Wage Earner Protection Program?

The WEPP pays employees wages and other amounts owing to them by their employer when their employer declares bankruptcy or becomes subject to a receivership.

The amounts that can be paid to an employee include wages, salaries, commissions, vacation pay, termination pay and severance pay.

How do I apply for WEPP payment?

The bankruptcy trustee or the receiver will notify you if you are owed money by a bankrupt or insolvent employer.

You will then need to:

file a proof of claim with the trustee or receiver; and
submit an application for a WEPP payment to Service Canada.

Service Canada will decide whether you are eligible for a WEPP payment. For more information on the WEPP and how to apply for a WEPP payment, Wage Earner Protection Program – A program to protect workers’ wages!

What if I disagree with Service Canada’s decision that I am not eligible for a WEPP payment?

You can ask the Minister of Labour to review Service Canada’s decision that you are not eligible for a WEPP payment.

IMPORTANT: Requests for review of Service Canada decisions are NOT filed with the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The Minister of Labour must decide requests for review of Service Canada decisions first. The Board can ONLY deal with appeals of review decisions made by the Minister.

For a description of the process and how to request a review of Service Canada’s decision, Wage Earner Protection Program – Overview - Canada.ca

What if I disagree with Service Canada’s decision that I received a WEPP overpayment?

You can ask the Minister of Labour to review Service Canada’s decision that you must repay some of your WEPP payment.

IMPORTANT: Requests for review of Service Canada decisions are NOT filed with the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The Minister of Labour must decide requests for review of Service Canada decisions first. The Board can ONLY deal with appeals of review decisions made by the Minister.

For a description of the process and how to request a review of Service Canada’s decision, please see the paragraph on Overpayments, Wage Earner Program – Applying – Canada.ca

What if I disagree with the Minister’s review decision?

Follow the links below to find out how to file an application to appeal the Minister’s review decision.

HOW TO APPEAL A DECISION ON ELIGIBILITY	HOW TO APPEAL A DECISION ON OVERPAYMENT
You have 60 calendar days from the date that you received the review decision on eligibility (the date of the decision) to file an application to appeal the decision with the Canada Industrial Relations Board. For more information on how to file an application to appeal an eligibility decision with the Board, go to the page entitled WEPP Eligibility Appeals.	You have 60 calendar days from the date that you received the review decision on an overpayment (the date of the decision) to file an application to appeal the decision with the Canada Industrial Relations Board. For more information on how to file an application to appeal an overpayment decision with the Board, go to the page entitled WEPP Overpayment Appeals.

HOW TO APPEAL A DECISION ON ELIGIBILITY

HOW TO APPEAL A DECISION ON OVERPAYMENT

You have 60 calendar days from the date that you received the review decision on eligibility (the date of the decision) to file an application to appeal the decision with the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

For more information on how to file an application to appeal an eligibility decision with the Board, go to the page entitled WEPP Eligibility Appeals.

You have 60 calendar days from the date that you received the review decision on an overpayment (the date of the decision) to file an application to appeal the decision with the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

For more information on how to file an application to appeal an overpayment decision with the Board, go to the page entitled WEPP Overpayment Appeals.