An employer providing a short-term disability plan benefit to its employees would qualify to

• A. cannot participate in EI Premium Reductions
• B. participate in the Employment Insurance Premium Reduction Program
• C. automatically qualifies for CPP
• D. has no impact on EI

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that EI Premium Reduction is available to employers who maintain private plans that provide sickness or accident benefits to employees. A short-term disability plan is exactly such a private plan, because it pays benefits to employees when they are off work due to illness or injury. Because the employer offers this private disability benefits plan, they qualify to participate in the Employment Insurance Premium Reduction Program, which reduces the EI premiums the employer must remit for each covered employee.

This does not relate to CPP automatically—the private plan doesn’t grant CPP eligibility or change CPP requirements. It also isn’t true that there is no impact on EI; the impact is that the employer can obtain a reduction in EI premiums through the Premium Reduction Program. So the scenario aligns with participating in the EI Premium Reduction Program.