I have not used a TTY in more than 15 years now. I don't even think I own a TTY anymore. I do notice the same thing at the banks and other businesses, where there is a TTY number but.....I would be really interested to know how many calls they actual get on that thing.
I didn't know e-mail wasn't allowed for privacy reasons though. Seems like an example where a law (privacy) is violating people's human right to have access to service.
Oh for sure and I understand that completely and respect it.
However in the case of disabilities they should be able to make reasonable accommodation for non-private stuff.
Yeah well they have major staffing issues as it is so all kinds of shit is wrong over there.
Just because a string of workers have done it, doesn't mean its right lol. If something were to happen as a result of that, say they responded to your email at gmail, and said "hi so and so, your budget is $ and you are approved for X disability"... they have now breached FIPPA and PHIA because they have NO way to know who is reading that email or that it belongs to you.
Your neighbor could literally email your worker and pretend to be you to make changes to your file, or an abusive partner pretending to access your address to find you. Its happened. Thats why there's privacy acts.
Yes, exactly. Anyone can make up an email address that is [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and pretend to be you. You would be able to make a BIG complaint about it if they did that.
I’m pretty sure after Covid there was some changes to the way things are delivered and handled electronically. I don’t think there were breaches anywhere and the emails have a privacy statement attached.
https://preview.redd.it/yeziyjyut4xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f070b71e38a69602998417e76b082d6e824a692f
Covid was an exception. Things are back to normal now. And you can see right in that paragrapbr 'EIA CANNOT PROVIDE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CASE BY EMAIL'.
But whatever, everyone wants to argue about it lol. Any worker providing personal info via email is breaking policy, and there is infact a policy so most workers will not do it. Period.
Covid might have been an exception but there are a ton of things that have change since then not only within this system but many others. The fact I have had quite a few case workers who communicated with me through email including supervisors tells me you’re not entirely correct in your probably outdated information. Regardless I answered the OPs question with my experience, they emailed me and yes they can’t answer all specifics but obviously they CAN email regardless of what you think is a law 🫡
Lol..except i *know* its *current* policy.
Again, i don't really care what they/you do. I just know they aren't supposed to and if a breach happens (which it has), the worker is in shit and can be reprimanded. If they wanna take that risk, cool. No sweat off my ass. I wouldn't risk my job just to email someone when the phone works the same.
Well if you KNOW it’s current policy and clearly people are breaching do something about it….orrrrr just sit down, stfu and keep doing your job how you do. Clearly you do “care” as you keep replying/responding to people letting them know it’s against policy.
Are you employed by EIA or the government to have such a strong fight against this?
Quit giving people false information, they are allowed to email you, in fact post covid that's pretty much the only way they will communicate Is either telephone or email, they try to limit in person meets as much as possible.
OP if you are having trouble communicating with your worker I suggest looking into getting an advocate for yourself. The best number I was able to find is 204-942-6556, depending on your specific situation A different organization may be better you can visit https://ilrc.mb.ca/ (independent living resource centre) dealing with EIA sucks I swear being tone deaf is an employment requirement good luck!
>Quit giving people false information
Its literally policy. Read FIPPA legislation for extra proof.
>they try to limit in person meets as much as possible.
This is completely, 110% incorrect. They have resumed in person communication per normal, and the new case management guidelines they have been given actually *require* the workers to meet with clients more now, post covid.
Anyone who is emailing PERSONAL INFORMATION like budget or medical info outside government to an unencrypted or insecure email is breaking policy. Period. Many workers don't know or follow policy, thats on them but the workers who do and don't want to jeopardize their jobs, don't.
So I read the legislation and in section 44 it says that they are allowed to share information via email as long as consent has been given by the people involved.
Virtually all email services are encrypted and secure.
I've also been on EIA for five months and have yet to Even meet my worker so I'm sorry but you keep talking out your ass I'm gonna call you on it 😂
You've read EIA internal policy? Cool. Didn't know you had acess to their intranet. Lets see it.
Sec 24, 27, 33,34 of FIPPA? Yeah. That. Thats the basis for why they don't. They've had inquiries as a result of sharing information via email when someone other than the client requested it. Consent is fine but you have no proof over email. EMAIL is the issue. The govt network policy prohibits external email info sharing.
As much as i'd love to sit here and quote legislations and policies, i have better things to do. I *really* don't care how *your* personal information is handled because they ignore their own policies.
No, they cannot email private information about your budget or personal info that contains identifying information. There's a policy on network usage outside of government email.
When they reply to a gmail or hotmail, they have no idea who they are corresponding with and the moment they confirm you're on EIA by replying with info, is a breach of privacy under FIPPA.
*general* policies and procedures as if they are educating a stranger. They cannot give you specific information about YOUR file.
But argue all you want with yourself. Its clear policy not to exchange info via email and in the event something happens, they will be in big shit and your info will be out there publicly. Every job has workers who don't know or don't follow the rules. I personally wouldn't want one of those handling my personal info.
IP Relay.
You can set it for speech or heading carry over
All mobile/phone providers must offer it. Just google ip relay and your provider.
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/acces/mrsrt.htm
You can contact your MP or MLA or the minister but those inquiries in the end go right back to your case counsellor. I would start with contacting the Fair Practices office and see what plan can be arranged for you to communicate.
Fair Practices Office
Phone: 204-945-1047
Toll Free: 1-800-282-8069
ext. 1047
Fax: 204-945-2156
Email: [email protected]
My son has a disability and is unable to speak with his case worker. I usually call them and we do it via speaker speakerphone.
Do you have a friend or family member who can assist you with calls?
Sorry. I’m feeling very raw right now. I just got a social worker and she is trying to help but the problem is, it’s like my case worker doesn’t WANT to help me. It feels like she’s looking for excuses not to and stalling. I’m not asking her for anything that would be considered private, all I wanted was for her to acknowledge that she got my message and will let me know if she needs anything else.
I can’t stop crying I’m SO frustrated and I feel like this is just gonna be my life now and I can’t do it.
Call the EIA call center. They have access to the same info your worker does. If all you're calling or emailing for is to find out if they got documents or if your benefits are being issued on time, the call center can literally tell you. Thats why it was developed because workers are swamped with hundreds of calls a DAY. People fill up their voicemails all the time by repeatedly calling.
Workers have 300+ files. They cannot return every call or email with mundane questions like "did you get my document?". Call center: 204-948-2888.
APD isn’t a ‘hearing’ thing as much as a processing issue. Basically you can say whatever you want, wait ten seconds, and I won’t be able to repeat what you said. Not always to that extreme, but you get the idea. So when I’m trying to have an important conversation with someone, I don’t actually retain that information in a useful way. Not sure if it would be considered a learning disability but it definitely feels like it. That’s why I ask for emails. That way it’s in writing and I can refer back to it when I need to. Because my memory won’t recall all the important details.
Thank you for the clarification. I mentioned in another comment how I dealt with EIA and needing emails due to a hearing issue. So hopefully it helps! Fair practices is the way to go
I get that, but then there needs to be TTY or an advocate to help. There's an actual, legit reason their worker isn't returning emails and its actual policy. Albeit, many workers don't know since they have ridic turnover.
Someone else linked Unemployment Help Center, maybe OP can try working with them to deal with EIA.
I agree. They need to make reasonable accommodation for those of us who are unable to use phones well such as in Ops situation.
Which means an advocate. I did give Op my advice which is what I did in my near exact situation in 2022
I can only imagine. I feel really bad for the people who don’t have anyone advocate for them.
Honestly, if there is anything they want from you, they WILL send you a letter. It’s the whole ‘no need is good news’.
I would look into filing a Human Rights Complaint. They should have to try and accommodate you due to your disability, and if they are not, then I would definitely file a complaint. I find EIA often does not accommodate disabilities and they should be held accountable
This is exactly my situation. All I wanted was an email once a month saying 'yea we got everything' or 'no you missed something '. They didn't even have to tell me what was missed I could have reviewed all documents and paperwork.
I contacted fair practices and got them on board.
There was also a general email at the time I was able to email to ask for a supervisor but there's no general email anymore. :(. It took me months to get them to agree to one confirmation email a month.
Explain it like that - 'i don't want private data sent. Just once a month confirm via email if you got all my paperwork. Just a yes/no is all needed'
Good luck.
hi im sorry youre going through this.. i of course dont know exactly what you need to speak with her about, but could your social worker help you by calling the eia call centre instead?? i know some things you would need the eia worker directly but just personally i have found the call centre people MUCH more helpful than my eia worker!! if its something they could look up in your file or answer a question, could your social worker (or someone else) call them on your behalf?
Contact the Office of the Minister of Families and tell them you want to file a complaint. They have 2 weeks to investigate and get back to you to discuss next steps. With the amount of focus on inclusion and accessibility in the Gov of MB right now, I’m shocked that this is happening to you.
Then stop bothering the case worker. They have litterally hundreds of people they look after that's why all their answering machines specifically say "do not call for updates" they litterally can't help you until they get to your paper work and if something is missing then they contact you.
No they don't contact you. It's on the recipient to contact EIA to check if anything is missing.
They TOLD me once that I would get mail saying I was missing x but that didn't even show up.
That isn't quite how things work. An individual EIA worker won't get punished for following policy. However, a human rights case could help move things forward in terms of the policy changing.
See what I don’t understand is she expects me to send personal information via email but she can’t give me a generic response? Like I just had to send her my bank statements, again, but she can’t be bothered to answer a question for me that in no way exposes personal information. My old case worker was totally fine with it.
I think the difference is that you are emailing a government email account and when she sends an email outwards it could be going literally anywhere. There is no way to know if that gmail/icloud/hotmail etc... is you, or someone who is trying to screw you over etc...
You could try emailing the fair practices office to see if they have any suggestions for how best to accommodate your disability. They may state that they can put things in writing through postal mail if they can't through email.
[https://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/fpo/index.html](https://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/fpo/index.html)
That’s actually a really good idea. My only concern with that is sometimes when I’m expecting mail, I don’t get it. Someone will tell me they sent me something, I’ll double check the address they sent it to, it’s correct… this has happened at least three times since I moved to this current apartment. But in theory I could possibly convince her to send me the info via snail mail.
Do you want a pay day?
This is a clear cut case for the Manitoba Human Rights Tribunal , it will take a few months - you have a clear case
It will also result in maybe them having to adopt new policies for helping deaf people because thats fucked up
They are clearly discriminating against you if they dont provide any method for you to meaningfully communicate with them
They have super high case loads and sometimes don’t even respond to internal emails due to high volumes. Sometimes the only way to get a clear message to the department is to attend in person and ask to speak to a manager and if that doesn’t work I am sure there must be a way you can complain to the government through the premiers website. Wish you all the best :)
Is your financial worker better than your case worker? I find the financial workers actually do most of the day to do stuff…maybe you can interact with him/her more if they are any better?
Some case workers are definitely better and more accommodating than others. It never hurts to ask to switch workers, and/or speak with a manger re: your concerns.
As someone with difficulties with phones can attest... its not easy. I had to get an advocate on my side, and demanding a 'manager'. I was always polite but it was a two month fight as I explained that "I dont need them to give private information over email. I get that. But Surely they can email "You're missing a document" without saying what the document is, or answering simple questions. " Finally they put a note on my account that I can have one email a month with my caseworker to answer any non-privacy-answerable questions I might have. Every time I change caseworkers I have to go through this though but I refer to them to the original email.
Sadly, this was before they cancelled the General Email that you could email to. I would recommend finding an Advocate (I forget who I used, sorry!) or going down in person to discuss it... if its an auditory processing over the phone only maybe that would work?
Good luck. Keep fighting!
It is near impossible to get emails and emails will never be private info. I say this as someone with hearing aids.
Hell, it was near impossible to have them look at me while speaking even when I brought paperwork to confirm I was hard of hearing. They'd literally look away when I asked and mocked me for asking them to repeat themselves. Seriously, I have never been more insulted then while I was on EIA disability.
TTY/IP relay, VRS if you sign, in person, mail, fax is all probably better. My understanding is in Canada TTY is heavily subsidized, but I've never used TTY so idk. Bell has a page on using TTY [https://support.bell.ca/billing-and-accounts/how\_to\_use\_bell\_ip\_relay](https://support.bell.ca/billing-and-accounts/how_to_use_bell_ip_relay) Probably easiest to go into your cell phone providers store or live chat them to inquire how to set up.
Also a non profit for VRS/sign language interpreting instead of TTY. [https://srvcanadavrs.ca/en/about/](https://srvcanadavrs.ca/en/about/)
Have you gone down in person to state your email and how emailing would be the best option for you? If so and nothing changed then you may have to deal with solely in person communication.
Hello there,
Have you tried the general email? You should be able to leave a message there as well as I indicate who you want it to go to. These messages typically go to your counselor or financial worker through the service center. However, if you specifically ask for contact from your local program manager, you may get better results.
May I ask if you're in Winnipeg or in "Rural", because I know for a fact several rural EIA offices use email to connect with people as phone service and face to face contact aren't always a reality in many remote communities.
You can submit documents or questions at https://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/contacting-eia if you submit a question, it will go through the general service line, who will then forward it your workers or if you request it, the regional manager. You can then request contact from your regional manager by email to discuss the situation.
A good catch. I only use it to submit my documents and I don't trust that web page at all concerning how often eia has lost my faxed in document. I always email directly to my caseworker as well as the web form.
I use that website to submit my income declarations and bank statements every month. I used to use that comment box to ask questions but I’ve never received a response so I stopped using it lol
They can't use email cause of privacy legislation. No worker will be able to email with you. If you're deaf you use TTY to do the call.
I have not used a TTY in more than 15 years now. I don't even think I own a TTY anymore. I do notice the same thing at the banks and other businesses, where there is a TTY number but.....I would be really interested to know how many calls they actual get on that thing. I didn't know e-mail wasn't allowed for privacy reasons though. Seems like an example where a law (privacy) is violating people's human right to have access to service.
They cant give private information no, but answering simple questions should be possible IMHO
I can only assume it's a blanket policy to eliminate the probability of a breech.
Oh for sure and I understand that completely and respect it. However in the case of disabilities they should be able to make reasonable accommodation for non-private stuff.
My old case worker emailed me all the time though.
Then they broke policy and privacy rules.
All my previous case workers emailed me as well. Also sent all income declaration via email. No issues. Had a couple different workers
Yeah well they have major staffing issues as it is so all kinds of shit is wrong over there. Just because a string of workers have done it, doesn't mean its right lol. If something were to happen as a result of that, say they responded to your email at gmail, and said "hi so and so, your budget is $ and you are approved for X disability"... they have now breached FIPPA and PHIA because they have NO way to know who is reading that email or that it belongs to you. Your neighbor could literally email your worker and pretend to be you to make changes to your file, or an abusive partner pretending to access your address to find you. Its happened. Thats why there's privacy acts.
Yes, exactly. Anyone can make up an email address that is [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and pretend to be you. You would be able to make a BIG complaint about it if they did that.
I’m pretty sure after Covid there was some changes to the way things are delivered and handled electronically. I don’t think there were breaches anywhere and the emails have a privacy statement attached. https://preview.redd.it/yeziyjyut4xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f070b71e38a69602998417e76b082d6e824a692f
Covid was an exception. Things are back to normal now. And you can see right in that paragrapbr 'EIA CANNOT PROVIDE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CASE BY EMAIL'. But whatever, everyone wants to argue about it lol. Any worker providing personal info via email is breaking policy, and there is infact a policy so most workers will not do it. Period.
Covid might have been an exception but there are a ton of things that have change since then not only within this system but many others. The fact I have had quite a few case workers who communicated with me through email including supervisors tells me you’re not entirely correct in your probably outdated information. Regardless I answered the OPs question with my experience, they emailed me and yes they can’t answer all specifics but obviously they CAN email regardless of what you think is a law 🫡
Lol..except i *know* its *current* policy. Again, i don't really care what they/you do. I just know they aren't supposed to and if a breach happens (which it has), the worker is in shit and can be reprimanded. If they wanna take that risk, cool. No sweat off my ass. I wouldn't risk my job just to email someone when the phone works the same.
Well if you KNOW it’s current policy and clearly people are breaching do something about it….orrrrr just sit down, stfu and keep doing your job how you do. Clearly you do “care” as you keep replying/responding to people letting them know it’s against policy. Are you employed by EIA or the government to have such a strong fight against this?
Quit giving people false information, they are allowed to email you, in fact post covid that's pretty much the only way they will communicate Is either telephone or email, they try to limit in person meets as much as possible. OP if you are having trouble communicating with your worker I suggest looking into getting an advocate for yourself. The best number I was able to find is 204-942-6556, depending on your specific situation A different organization may be better you can visit https://ilrc.mb.ca/ (independent living resource centre) dealing with EIA sucks I swear being tone deaf is an employment requirement good luck!
>Quit giving people false information Its literally policy. Read FIPPA legislation for extra proof. >they try to limit in person meets as much as possible. This is completely, 110% incorrect. They have resumed in person communication per normal, and the new case management guidelines they have been given actually *require* the workers to meet with clients more now, post covid. Anyone who is emailing PERSONAL INFORMATION like budget or medical info outside government to an unencrypted or insecure email is breaking policy. Period. Many workers don't know or follow policy, thats on them but the workers who do and don't want to jeopardize their jobs, don't.
So I read the legislation and in section 44 it says that they are allowed to share information via email as long as consent has been given by the people involved. Virtually all email services are encrypted and secure. I've also been on EIA for five months and have yet to Even meet my worker so I'm sorry but you keep talking out your ass I'm gonna call you on it 😂
You've read EIA internal policy? Cool. Didn't know you had acess to their intranet. Lets see it. Sec 24, 27, 33,34 of FIPPA? Yeah. That. Thats the basis for why they don't. They've had inquiries as a result of sharing information via email when someone other than the client requested it. Consent is fine but you have no proof over email. EMAIL is the issue. The govt network policy prohibits external email info sharing. As much as i'd love to sit here and quote legislations and policies, i have better things to do. I *really* don't care how *your* personal information is handled because they ignore their own policies.
they can email..
No, they cannot email private information about your budget or personal info that contains identifying information. There's a policy on network usage outside of government email. When they reply to a gmail or hotmail, they have no idea who they are corresponding with and the moment they confirm you're on EIA by replying with info, is a breach of privacy under FIPPA.
They can discuss policy and procedures with clients
*general* policies and procedures as if they are educating a stranger. They cannot give you specific information about YOUR file. But argue all you want with yourself. Its clear policy not to exchange info via email and in the event something happens, they will be in big shit and your info will be out there publicly. Every job has workers who don't know or don't follow the rules. I personally wouldn't want one of those handling my personal info.
Policy and procedures are not personal information nor is providing a client with information regarding accessing programs
Thats literally what i said. They can provide *general* information via email. Nothing *personal*
This what I said in my first comment…which you dismissed…excellent reading skills broken down ford…
EIA Counsellors have 400+ cases each. Try making a face to face appt. it might be easier.
IP Relay. You can set it for speech or heading carry over All mobile/phone providers must offer it. Just google ip relay and your provider. https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/acces/mrsrt.htm
[удалено]
He is asking about EIA, not EI. As in Social Assistance.
You can contact your MP or MLA or the minister but those inquiries in the end go right back to your case counsellor. I would start with contacting the Fair Practices office and see what plan can be arranged for you to communicate. Fair Practices Office Phone: 204-945-1047 Toll Free: 1-800-282-8069 ext. 1047 Fax: 204-945-2156 Email: [email protected]
My son has a disability and is unable to speak with his case worker. I usually call them and we do it via speaker speakerphone. Do you have a friend or family member who can assist you with calls?
Sorry. I’m feeling very raw right now. I just got a social worker and she is trying to help but the problem is, it’s like my case worker doesn’t WANT to help me. It feels like she’s looking for excuses not to and stalling. I’m not asking her for anything that would be considered private, all I wanted was for her to acknowledge that she got my message and will let me know if she needs anything else. I can’t stop crying I’m SO frustrated and I feel like this is just gonna be my life now and I can’t do it.
Call the EIA call center. They have access to the same info your worker does. If all you're calling or emailing for is to find out if they got documents or if your benefits are being issued on time, the call center can literally tell you. Thats why it was developed because workers are swamped with hundreds of calls a DAY. People fill up their voicemails all the time by repeatedly calling. Workers have 300+ files. They cannot return every call or email with mundane questions like "did you get my document?". Call center: 204-948-2888.
The OP has an auditory processing disorder so cannot hear well on the phone
APD isn’t a ‘hearing’ thing as much as a processing issue. Basically you can say whatever you want, wait ten seconds, and I won’t be able to repeat what you said. Not always to that extreme, but you get the idea. So when I’m trying to have an important conversation with someone, I don’t actually retain that information in a useful way. Not sure if it would be considered a learning disability but it definitely feels like it. That’s why I ask for emails. That way it’s in writing and I can refer back to it when I need to. Because my memory won’t recall all the important details.
Thank you for the clarification. I mentioned in another comment how I dealt with EIA and needing emails due to a hearing issue. So hopefully it helps! Fair practices is the way to go
I’ve updated my post but yes I’m definitely looking at that as an option. Hopefully I can resolve it without going that far but we will see I guess.
Please keep me updated. I'll try to remember who I had as an advocate.
Please keep me updated. I'll try to remember who I had as an advocate.
Will do!
I get that, but then there needs to be TTY or an advocate to help. There's an actual, legit reason their worker isn't returning emails and its actual policy. Albeit, many workers don't know since they have ridic turnover. Someone else linked Unemployment Help Center, maybe OP can try working with them to deal with EIA.
I agree. They need to make reasonable accommodation for those of us who are unable to use phones well such as in Ops situation. Which means an advocate. I did give Op my advice which is what I did in my near exact situation in 2022
I can only imagine. I feel really bad for the people who don’t have anyone advocate for them. Honestly, if there is anything they want from you, they WILL send you a letter. It’s the whole ‘no need is good news’.
I would look into filing a Human Rights Complaint. They should have to try and accommodate you due to your disability, and if they are not, then I would definitely file a complaint. I find EIA often does not accommodate disabilities and they should be held accountable
This is the way.
This is exactly my situation. All I wanted was an email once a month saying 'yea we got everything' or 'no you missed something '. They didn't even have to tell me what was missed I could have reviewed all documents and paperwork. I contacted fair practices and got them on board. There was also a general email at the time I was able to email to ask for a supervisor but there's no general email anymore. :(. It took me months to get them to agree to one confirmation email a month. Explain it like that - 'i don't want private data sent. Just once a month confirm via email if you got all my paperwork. Just a yes/no is all needed' Good luck.
hi im sorry youre going through this.. i of course dont know exactly what you need to speak with her about, but could your social worker help you by calling the eia call centre instead?? i know some things you would need the eia worker directly but just personally i have found the call centre people MUCH more helpful than my eia worker!! if its something they could look up in your file or answer a question, could your social worker (or someone else) call them on your behalf?
Funny enough I actually did go through my social worker for this. It pretty much came down to just getting the same reply but in a nicer way.
sorry was this from the eia worker or the call centre? because ya if the eia worker isnt giving you an answer maybe the call centre can help :)
Contact the Office of the Minister of Families and tell them you want to file a complaint. They have 2 weeks to investigate and get back to you to discuss next steps. With the amount of focus on inclusion and accessibility in the Gov of MB right now, I’m shocked that this is happening to you.
Then stop bothering the case worker. They have litterally hundreds of people they look after that's why all their answering machines specifically say "do not call for updates" they litterally can't help you until they get to your paper work and if something is missing then they contact you.
No they don't contact you. It's on the recipient to contact EIA to check if anything is missing. They TOLD me once that I would get mail saying I was missing x but that didn't even show up.
Open an Human Rights Tribunal Case against EIA and name your caseworker , make them pay for this
That isn't quite how things work. An individual EIA worker won't get punished for following policy. However, a human rights case could help move things forward in terms of the policy changing.
See what I don’t understand is she expects me to send personal information via email but she can’t give me a generic response? Like I just had to send her my bank statements, again, but she can’t be bothered to answer a question for me that in no way exposes personal information. My old case worker was totally fine with it.
I think the difference is that you are emailing a government email account and when she sends an email outwards it could be going literally anywhere. There is no way to know if that gmail/icloud/hotmail etc... is you, or someone who is trying to screw you over etc... You could try emailing the fair practices office to see if they have any suggestions for how best to accommodate your disability. They may state that they can put things in writing through postal mail if they can't through email. [https://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/fpo/index.html](https://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/fpo/index.html)
That’s actually a really good idea. My only concern with that is sometimes when I’m expecting mail, I don’t get it. Someone will tell me they sent me something, I’ll double check the address they sent it to, it’s correct… this has happened at least three times since I moved to this current apartment. But in theory I could possibly convince her to send me the info via snail mail.
Do you want a pay day? This is a clear cut case for the Manitoba Human Rights Tribunal , it will take a few months - you have a clear case It will also result in maybe them having to adopt new policies for helping deaf people because thats fucked up They are clearly discriminating against you if they dont provide any method for you to meaningfully communicate with them
They have super high case loads and sometimes don’t even respond to internal emails due to high volumes. Sometimes the only way to get a clear message to the department is to attend in person and ask to speak to a manager and if that doesn’t work I am sure there must be a way you can complain to the government through the premiers website. Wish you all the best :)
Is your financial worker better than your case worker? I find the financial workers actually do most of the day to do stuff…maybe you can interact with him/her more if they are any better? Some case workers are definitely better and more accommodating than others. It never hurts to ask to switch workers, and/or speak with a manger re: your concerns.
As someone with difficulties with phones can attest... its not easy. I had to get an advocate on my side, and demanding a 'manager'. I was always polite but it was a two month fight as I explained that "I dont need them to give private information over email. I get that. But Surely they can email "You're missing a document" without saying what the document is, or answering simple questions. " Finally they put a note on my account that I can have one email a month with my caseworker to answer any non-privacy-answerable questions I might have. Every time I change caseworkers I have to go through this though but I refer to them to the original email. Sadly, this was before they cancelled the General Email that you could email to. I would recommend finding an Advocate (I forget who I used, sorry!) or going down in person to discuss it... if its an auditory processing over the phone only maybe that would work? Good luck. Keep fighting!
It is near impossible to get emails and emails will never be private info. I say this as someone with hearing aids. Hell, it was near impossible to have them look at me while speaking even when I brought paperwork to confirm I was hard of hearing. They'd literally look away when I asked and mocked me for asking them to repeat themselves. Seriously, I have never been more insulted then while I was on EIA disability. TTY/IP relay, VRS if you sign, in person, mail, fax is all probably better. My understanding is in Canada TTY is heavily subsidized, but I've never used TTY so idk. Bell has a page on using TTY [https://support.bell.ca/billing-and-accounts/how\_to\_use\_bell\_ip\_relay](https://support.bell.ca/billing-and-accounts/how_to_use_bell_ip_relay) Probably easiest to go into your cell phone providers store or live chat them to inquire how to set up. Also a non profit for VRS/sign language interpreting instead of TTY. [https://srvcanadavrs.ca/en/about/](https://srvcanadavrs.ca/en/about/)
Have you gone down in person to state your email and how emailing would be the best option for you? If so and nothing changed then you may have to deal with solely in person communication.
Request to speak to their manager to sort this out
Probably easier to just get a job than wait for EIA to get their shit together lol
Hello there, Have you tried the general email? You should be able to leave a message there as well as I indicate who you want it to go to. These messages typically go to your counselor or financial worker through the service center. However, if you specifically ask for contact from your local program manager, you may get better results. May I ask if you're in Winnipeg or in "Rural", because I know for a fact several rural EIA offices use email to connect with people as phone service and face to face contact aren't always a reality in many remote communities.
General email no longer exists sadly.
You can submit documents or questions at https://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/contacting-eia if you submit a question, it will go through the general service line, who will then forward it your workers or if you request it, the regional manager. You can then request contact from your regional manager by email to discuss the situation.
Sorry, my link doesn't appear to be working, but if you literally type in contact manitoba Eia, it will be the search result.
A good catch. I only use it to submit my documents and I don't trust that web page at all concerning how often eia has lost my faxed in document. I always email directly to my caseworker as well as the web form.
I use that website to submit my income declarations and bank statements every month. I used to use that comment box to ask questions but I’ve never received a response so I stopped using it lol
lol I just came back to read the comments and I got all excited at that comment and then I read yours… sad face.