- Labour market re-entry {LMR} (cooperation) (legitimate reasons)
Board policy provides that workers are not penalized for non-co-operation is there is a legitimate reason. Legitimate reasons include: unexpected illness, accident, severe weather; compelling personal reasons such as a death in the family; actions or inactions of a relevant third party.
The involvement of the worker in this case in contentious family law proceedings did not meet the intent of the policy, particularly taking into account that the lack of participation in LMR extended over most of a year. If the lack of participation had been over a relatively short period, and there was evidence of extremely stressful events during the period which prevented participation, it might be appropriate to take those factors into account in determining whether there were legitimate reasons for non-co-operation. However, over a longer period, the need to address contentious family matters did not provide a legitimate reason for lack of participation in LMR.