Script 288 gives information only, not legal advice. If you have a legal problem or need legal advice, you should speak to a lawyer. For the name of a lawyer to consult, call Lawyer Referral at 604.687.3221 in the lower mainland or 1.800.663.1919 elsewhere in British Columbia.

What social assistance does the BC Ministry of Social Development provide?
The Ministry provides income assistance, disability assistance, hardship assistance, and supplements to eligible people in need. These payments are sometimes called “social assistance” or “welfare.”  They are delivered through the Employment and Assistance Programs. For more on these programs, check the Ministry website at www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/bcea.htm.

How are decisions on social assistance, reconsiderations, and appeals made?
Two different laws govern BC’s social assistance programs:

• Employment and Assistance Act and Regulation: This Act and regulation deals with income assistance benefits, monthly benefits for Persons With Persistent Multiple Barriers to employment (“PPMB”), and hardship benefits for people who don’t have PWD status (see below).
• Employment and Assistance for Persons With Disabilities Act and Regulation: This Act and regulation deals with disability assistance for people 18 and over who are designated as Persons with Disabilities (“PWD”).

What are your appeal rights?
You have the right to ask for a reconsideration, and then an appeal, of most Ministry decisions. For example, you can appeal if the Ministry refuses your application for monthly assistance or a supplement.

There are three levels of review of Ministry decisions
These are:

• Reconsideration by the Ministry
• Appeal to the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal (“the Tribunal”)
• Judicial review of a Tribunal decision by the BC Supreme Court

Reconsideration by the Ministry

What does the first level of review involve?
If you disagree with a decision made by the Ministry, first discuss the decision with the Ministry staff person who made it. If you’re still unhappy with the decision, ask for a reconsideration of the decision under the relevant law. You’ll be given an appeal package containing a Request for Reconsideration form (HSD100) to complete. It can be a good idea to get some help with a Request for Reconsideration (sources of help are outlined at the end of this script).

How much time do you have to submit the form?
Make sure you return the Request for Reconsideration form within 20 business days from the time the Ministry first notified you of its decision. Also make sure you include any additional documents and evidence needed to support your case. If you need more time to collect all your supporting documents, you can write on the Request for Reconsideration form that you want an extension of time. You can ask for an extension of up to 20 business days to provide additional documents to the Ministry.

What is an appeal supplement?
If you’re applying for reconsideration of a decision to reduce or cut off your benefits or a supplement, you can ask the Ministry to give you a repayable “appeal supplement,” once you’ve submitted your Request for Reconsideration form. This means you’ll continue to get benefits at the level you used to until a decision about your appeal is made. If you win your appeal, you keep the supplement. If you lose the appeal, you must pay it back to the Ministry.

When is the reconsideration decision made?
A reconsideration adjudicator at the Ministry will review your request and make a new decision about your case. The new decision will be mailed to you within 10 business days after the Ministry receives your reconsideration request (or within 20 days if you asked for an extension of time to give the Ministry additional documents).

Appeal to the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal

What’s involved in the second level of review?
If you disagree with the reconsideration decision, and you have a right of appeal, you can appeal to the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal. You must send the Tribunal a completed Notice of Appeal form (HSD2607) within 7 business days of receiving the reconsideration decision. You can ask the Tribunal to hold your hearing in person or in writing, and you have the right to have an advocate, friend or other representative attend the hearing with you.

What is the Tribunal?
The Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal is an independent body that hears appeals of Ministry decisions. It consists of a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and a number of members located throughout BC. The Tribunal Chair appoints a panel of up to three members to hear each appeal. For more information on the Tribunal, and on how to appeal, see their website at www.gov.bc.ca/eaat.

When will your appeal be heard?
The Tribunal panel must hear your appeal within 15 business days after it receives your completed Notice of Appeal, unless the Tribunal Chair and you and the other people in the case agree to a later date.

You’ll get notice of the date, time and place of the hearing at least two business days before the hearing date. The Tribunal will send you a copy of all the information the Ministry decision-maker considered in making the reconsideration decision (called the “appeal record”). You and the Ministry representative get the same material.

What happens at the appeal hearing?
Most hearings are oral. If you prefer, you can ask for a written hearing, but everyone involved must first agree to a written hearing. Both you and a Ministry representative attend the appeal hearing.

You’re responsible for presenting your side of the case at the hearing. You can do this yourself or have someone help you. Ask at the local BC Employment and Income Assistance Office, or call the Tribunal, for information about local advocates willing to help. Also check with PovNet about an advocate (their contact information is at the end of this script). You cannot present new evidence at the hearing. But you can explain the evidence already on file or provide evidence in support of the case you submitted with your Request for Reconsideration. You might also choose to call witnesses and make legal arguments.

The Ministry also gets an opportunity to present its case and call witnesses. You can question the Ministry witnesses, and the Ministry can question your witnesses.

How does the Tribunal decide?
After hearing all the evidence, the Tribunal panel decides the case. They decide if the decision you are appealing was reasonably supported by the evidence and if the Ministry reasonably applied the right law in the circumstances.

When will you get the decision?
The Tribunal panel must usually give its decision to the Tribunal within 5 business days after a hearing. The Tribunal then has 5 days to send the decision to you.

Judicial Review by the BC Supreme Court

What does the third level of review involve?
If you’re still not satisfied with the Tribunal decision, you can ask the BC Supreme Court to review it, but you’ll need a lawyer for this. There are deadlines for judicial review, so it’s important that you act quickly. If you have an advocate, ask them about this option. The Community Legal Assistance Society (www.clasbc.net) and the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre (www.bcpiac.com) have lawyers who can help with judicial review of some Tribunal decisions.

Where can you get more information and help?

• Community advocates: Many places in BC have community advocates who can provide free help with welfare problems, including reconsiderations and appeals. PovNet (www.povnet.org) is a website that includes contact information for advocates across BC. To find an advocate near you, go to www.povnet.org/find-an-advocate/bc.
• Legal Services Society: The Legal Services Society (LSS) has a booklet called “Your Welfare Rights: A Guide to BC Employment and Assistance” that contains information about eligibility for social assistance (including PPMB and PWD benefits and supplements). The booklet is available free on their website at www.legalaid.bc.ca. To find it, click “Our publications” then under “I want to find a publication by subject,” click “Welfare”.
• BC Coalition of People with Disabilities: This organization has a website with many helpful guides and help sheets for applying for the PPMB and PWD designation, as well as information on appealing decisions denying either designation. See their website www.bccpd.bc.ca and click on “Publications” then “Advocacy Publications”. You can ask them to mail you a copy of one of their publications free of charge – call them at 604.872.1278 in the lower mainland or 1.800.663.1278 elsewhere in the province.
• Ministry of Social Development: For more information about the Ministry, phone or visit the nearest Ministry office and speak with an Employment and Assistance Worker. For the phone numbers and addresses, call Enquiry BC at 604.660.2421 in the lower mainland, 250.387.6121 in Victoria, and 1.800.663.7867 elsewhere in BC. Or check the Ministry website at www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/bcea.htm. 
• Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal: For more information about the Tribunal – including their practices and procedures and to see video clips of what a hearing looks like – visit their website at www.gov.bc.ca/eaat or phone the Tribunal at 1.866.557.0035.

[updated January 2011]

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