The Legal Advocacy Program (LAP) was established in 2001 to address the hardships faced by Farmworkers in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland. The program has a three-fold intent consisting of:
LAP is a partnership program between Abbotsford Community Services (ACS) and Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) which is funded by The Law Foundation of BC.
The Legal Advocacy Program (LAP) provides assistance to Farmworkers in Punjabi, Spanish, English, Hindi, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. LAP provides full representation on a variety of issues including:
Q. If I was being harassed by my employer and quit my job, can I still apply for employment insurance benefits?
A. We encourage you to apply for employment insurance benefits and the worker from Service Canada who is assigned to your file will consider all relevant information before making a decision. You would still need the minimum number of hours in your previous 52 weeks to qualify.
Q. I am a farm worker, do I receive overtime benefits?
A. Farm workers are exempt from overtime pay. It's one of the issues that our program continues to advocate to have rules changed.
Q. How many hours do I need to qualify
for employment insurance sickness and regular benefits?
A. For sickness benefits you need 600 hours in the past 52 weeks. For regular benefits its dependent on the rate of unemployment in your region. You will never need more than 700 hours to qualify for regular benefits.
Rules governing benefits can change on short notice.
Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society
12725 80 Ave #205, Surrey, BC V3W 3A6
Ph: 604-596-7722
Gurpreet Ext # 134
Email: gurpreet.pabla@pics.bc.ca
Abbotsford Community Services
2420 Montrose Ave, Abbotsford, BC V2S 3S9
Ph: 604-859-7681
Gurcharan Ext # 307
Email: gurcharan.dhillon@abbotsfordcommunityservices.com
Sarbjit Ext #315
Email: legaladvocacy@abbotsfordcommunityservices.com
Claudia
Ph: 778-808-8883
Email: claudia.stoehr@abbotsfordcommunityservices.com
Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed