Less than 15 hours a week calculation (2 jobs)

[tessa2105]

Can anyone share their experience after submitting an application with experience for less than 15 hours a week? I have a combination of full time employment and part time over the course of 2 years but I've been advised to disregard any experience below 15 hours a week as is deemed "too casual".

I have 2 jobs (different noc codes) for the same company, working at the same time. One job comes to around 10 hours a week, the other is 25 hours. Can I combine these two as "full time experience?" Is stating total hours worked on a letter sufficient?

 

[jes_ON]

Can anyone share their experience after submitting an application with experience for less than 15 hours a week? I have a combination of full time employment and part time over the course of 2 years but I've been advised to disregard any experience below 15 hours a week as is deemed "too casual".

I have 2 jobs (different noc codes) for the same company, working at the same time. One job comes to around 10 hours a week, the other is 25 hours. Can I combine these two as "full time experience?" Is stating total hours worked on a letter sufficient?

Is this "in Canada" or "foreign" work experience? I will reply to the 2nd paragraph in hopes that it also refers to the first.

You describe 2 simultaneous part-time jobs, and yes, you can combine the hours to claim the equivalent of full-time experience. Full-time work is defined as "30 or more hours worked per week" in one or more jobs. If you work two jobs at the same time and the combined hours equal "30 more" then it is treated as full-time work.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/ministerial-instructions/express-entry-application-management-system.html

"Canadian work experience
(3) For the purposes of this section, Canadian work experience is work experience that

• (a) is acquired by a foreign national in Canada in one or more occupations listed in Skill Type 0 Management Occupations or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification matrix;
• (b) consists of full-time work experience, or the full-time equivalent for part-time work experience, with one or more employers;
• (c) is acquired within the 10-year period preceding the day on which points are assigned to the foreign national under subsection (1); and
• (d) is remunerated by the payment of wages or a commission.

Full-time work
(5) For the purposes of this section, full-time work consists of at least 30 hours of work per week.

Work in excess
(6) For the purposes of this section, a period of work experience that exceeds full-time work in one occupation, or simultaneous periods of work experience in more than one full-time occupation, are to be evaluated as a single period of full-time work experience in a single occupation."

You can provide one or two letters, but if you provide one, it should describe the two jobs separately.

 

[tessa2105]

Yes, for Canadian experience. The two positions are with the same employer. Would it be acceptable for the employer letter to state:

Job 1
Date - Date
Status: Full time 20-40 hours per week
Wage: xx
Total accumulated hours: xxx

Job 2
Date - Date
Status: Part time 7-14 hours per week
Wage: xx
Total accumulated hours: xxx

How does the officer read this?

 

[jes_ON]

Yes, for Canadian experience. The two positions are with the same employer. Would it be acceptable for the employer letter to state:

Job 1
Date - Date
Status: Full time 20-40 hours per week
Wage: xx
Total accumulated hours: xxx

First, 20-40 hours per week is not "Full-time". If you work less than 30 hours per week, it is part-time. So the VO will read this has having a mix of part-time and full-time hours.
Second - total accumulated hours is irrelevant for full-time work. You only "add up" part-time hours. If you are adding up hours, you cannot count more than 30 per week.

Job 2
Date - Date
Status: Part time 7-14 hours per week
Wage: xx
Total accumulated hours: xxx

So, this opens up the possibility of working 2 part-time jobs in a given week and only having part-time hours (20+7). If that happened only once or twice, no big deal, but there's no way from this info that the VO knows how often that happened...

What kind of documentation do you have about your hours? Do you know exactly how many hours you worked per week, every week? Or guessing based on pay stubs, etc.?

Here's what you COULD do

Job 1
Date - Date
Hours: Average of XX hours worked per week (divide total accumulated hours by # of weeks worked - this should be verifiable based on wage and total income)
Wage: xx

Job 2
Date - Date
Hours: Average XX hours worked per week
Wage: xx
Total accumulated hours: xxx

Weekly average combined:

Hopefully the weekly average combined will be well above 30.

 

[tessa2105]

The nature of the work is seasonal. So full time for this employer is considered 20 hours per week. Should I just get the employer to state part time and change the range so it's appropriate? I've referenced a lot of people about this including looking at letters provided by the employer to other employees and what they've submitted. The hours fluctuate based on business demands.

I have looked at pay stubs that are bi-weekly. The hours vary but I have worked out the hours by capping each pay stub at 60 hours.

Another point is that these two positions don't run from the same dates.

Job 2 runs approx. 1-2 earlier and later than Job 1. This would make calculating more difficult for the officer.

 

[jes_ON]

The nature of the work is seasonal. So full time for this employer is considered 20 hours per week. Should I just get the employer to state part time and change the range so it's appropriate?

No, it doesn't really matter, IRCC will apply its own definition regardless of what your employer calls it.

I've referenced a lot of people about this including looking at letters provided by the employer to other employees and what they've submitted. The hours fluctuate based on business demands.

I have looked at pay stubs that are bi-weekly. The hours vary but I have worked out the hours by capping each pay stub at 60 hours.

Another point is that these two positions don't run from the same dates.

Job 2 runs approx. 1-2 earlier and later than Job 1. This would make calculating more difficult for the officer.

As long as you clearly exceed the 1 year of FTE work experience, I don't think you need to make it brutally exacting, you will be fine with how it is described. If it very close to being just one year (or less) the VO is going to want a fairly exact accounting to make sure you are eligible. I can't tell from the info you've provided how much experience you actually have.

 

[tessa2105]

According to my calculations, 3 weeks before my permit expires, I will have accumulated 1674.6 hours, worked 412 days. But, as per the 30 cap on my part time work, it gets a bit complicated.

I also had a pay error which meant one of my payslips consists of 4 weeks pay as I was back paid but that went onto the following financial year, so I'm worried about submitting payslips and T4 because they don't accurately represent the hours I worked over December.

I have been speaking to an immigration consultant and they said the FTE calculation is a no go and my job below 15 hours a week isn't to be included. If this is the case, then I don't meet the minimum 1 year hours.

 

[jes_ON]

According to my calculations, 3 weeks before my permit expires, I will have accumulated 1674.6 hours, worked 412 days. But, as per the 30 cap on my part time work, it gets a bit complicated.
How?

Not complicated. Tedious to calculate, but not difficult. Any week where you work 30 or more hours in one or more jobs counts as one "full-time week." Any week where you work fewer than 30 hours per week is part-time. Add up all the hours of part-time work, divide by 30 and you have the number of FTE weeks. When your FT and FTE weeks combined equal 52, then you have met the one year requirement.

I also had a pay error which meant one of my payslips consists of 4 weeks pay as I was back paid but that went onto the following financial year, so I'm worried about submitting payslips and T4 because they don't accurately represent the hours I worked over December.
That can be explained with a letter of explanation. Not that big a deal, it happens.

I have been speaking to an immigration consultant and they said the FTE calculation is a no go and my job below 15 hours a week isn't to be included. If this is the case, then I don't meet the minimum 1 year hours.
I have already indicated the consultant is wrong about this, and provided you with the rules in the Ministerial Instructions. So you can accept bad advice from a consultant and give up, you can find a new consultant, or you can learn the rules yourself and apply on your own.