The federal government has made some changes to the Wage Earner Protection Program to help those who have lost their job and are owed wages by their insolvent employer.

Ottawa is removing the standard 6.82 per cent deduction applied to all WEPP payments, providing an average of $315 dollars more.

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan announced the changes yesterday. Other changes include enabling earlier access to WEPP payments, extending coverage to Canadians employed by foreign companies in Canada and updating the payment for trustee and receiver duties.

The changes come into effect today.