Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY e federal government has signalled its intent to establish a new Indigenous holiday to acknowledge the tragic his- tory of the residential school system. But employers and payroll professionals are waving caution flags, in hopes that Canada's leaders consider the costs before moving forward. "From an employer perspective, there's a huge impact on cost," said Annie Chong, manager of the payroll consulting group at omson Reuters in Toronto (publisher of Canadian HR Reporter). "ere is a huge cost when you shut down a business for a day." "Just because the federal government has this great idea of adding an extra day off with pay, not all provinces in Canada necessarily need to jump on the bandwagon." e federal government intends to officially support a private member's bill introduced by NDP MP Georgina Jolibois that proposes the establishment of a statutory holiday on June 21, to be known as National Indigenous Peoples Day, according to Simon Ross, press secretary for the minister of Canadian heritage and multiculturalism. Support for the motion comes right from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he said. "e prime minister has said it many times — there is no relationship more important to Canada than the one with Indigenous peoples," said Ross. "at's why, in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau committed to implementing all of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission." "Call to Action 80 asks the government of Canada to establish a national day for truth and reconciliation to honour the survivors of residential schools, and it has always been crystal clear that our government would support it." Both the Northwest Territories and Yukon already observe National Aboriginal Day on June 21. Caution urged Federal approval of a new holiday would only apply to federally regulated workplaces. Provinces and territories would need to amend their labour codes in order for pro- vincially regulated employers to honour the change. But adding an additional statutory holiday to the Canadian calendar could cost up to $3.6 billion in lost productivity if all jurisdictions agreed to recognize it, said Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president of national affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in Ottawa. "Let me start by saying that, as an organization, we're supportive of reconciliation efforts," she said. "We count many Indigenous businesses as our members and it's really not our role to determine the best way to recognize the significant pain that's caused by residential schools." "But the introduction of these holidays does come with costs for the economy and for businesses," said Pohlmann. "Generally, business owners don't support new stat holidays, at a ratio of two to one. It's a cost for them, and… depending on the type of business they are, they either have to shut it down and still pay their employees for a full day, or if they remain open — like some retailer or hospitality (businesses) may — they have to pay more." Ontario's recent employment standard revisions — and subsequent reversal of public holiday pay rules — are an example of the difficulties that rapid legislative change can have on payroll administrators, said Chong. "It's one thing to introduce the new holiday, but it's Push for Indigenous holiday earns mixed reviews from employers Federal government looking to create statutory holiday marking legacy of Canada's residential schools BY MARCEL VANDER WIER Sign up for the Canadian HR Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian HR Reporter. HR News at Your Fingertips THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Visit www.hrreporter.com/ canadian-hr-newswire

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