Canadian Payroll Reporter

November 2018

Focuses on issues of importance to payroll professionals across Canada. It contains news, case studies, profiles and tracks payroll-related legislation to help employers comply with all the rules and regulations governing their organizations.

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News November 2018 | CPR News Benefi ts, minimum wage under consideration Many of those consulted also wanted the government to re- duce the eligibility period for the third week of vacation, which employees receive after six years of service. Sixty-one per cent of survey respondents said three weeks should be available after three years. Hours of work: The report stated that there was unani- mous agreement that the code's hours of work and scheduling rules needed to be updated, but worker and employer represen- tatives disagreed on how to do it. For instance, workers' advo- cates suggested that employers be required to give employees advance notice of their work schedule, while employer groups called for more flexibility. Meal breaks were also consid- ered during consultations. The code does not require employers to provide employees with meal breaks; however, 91 per cent of survey respondents said em- ployees should receive a 30-min- ute meal break for shifts that last at least five hours. Terminations: Workers' ad- vocates recommended longer notice periods for individual terminations, with the amount of notice increasing the longer an employee works for an em- ployer. This is common in many provinces' labour standards laws. Some labour advocates also recommended increasing sev- erance pay entitlements to one week per year of service. Current severance pay requirements call for the greater of two days' wages at regular rate for each complet- ed year of employment or five days' wages at regular rate. For group terminations (50 or more workers in a four-week pe- riod), employer representatives said the current 16-week notice requirement is too long. They suggested eliminating it or hav- ing it apply only when a much higher number of workers are affected. Minimum wage: About three-quarters (76 per cent) of respondents said there should be a separate federal minimum wage rate, with most suggesting it be at least $15 and indexed to inflation. In contrast, employer groups recommended continuing with the current practice of using the minimum wage rate that ap- plies in the province/territory in which federally regulated work- ers are employed. They said this made sense because the cost of living and labour market condi- tions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Benefits: While consulta- tion participants agreed that benefits were an important job feature, they had differing views on them, especially around the idea of portable benefits, which would allow employees to keep their benefits even if they changed employers. Among survey respondents, 37 per cent agreed with portable benefits and 49 per cent did not. Some employer groups also opposed the idea, with one orga- nization saying that compensa- tion packages are an important recruitment and retention tool that should be left up to employ- ers and employees to work out. They added that portable ben- efits would not make sense for all workers since many temporary and part-time employees choose to work this way so that they do not have to pay into a benefit plan. There was also a suggestion from an employer group that Ot- tawa set up a government-spon- sored benefits bank to provide a minimum set of benefits for in- dependent contractors. There were also calls from some labour representatives for amendments to the code to re- quire equal treatment when it comes to benefits for temporary and part-time employees doing the same work as their full-time counterparts. Non-standard employment: The consultations also examined issues that workers in non-stan- dard employment face, includ- ing those working part-time, in temporary work, and dependent contractors (those who may rely on one business for work, but who are not employees). "We heard regularly during the consultations that, as the nature of work changes, many workers are not being hired as traditional employees and as a result are missing out on some of the protections provided by statutory labour standards," the report said. "For example, research shows that temporary and part-time employees may not be paid the same wages as their full-time counterparts and may have dif- ficulty qualifying for certain en- titlements and protections." Workers' advocates called for the government to add equal wage protection to the code to ensure that employers pay part- time, casual, and temporary workers the same as their full- time employees when they do the same job. Labour groups also raised concerns that some employers are intentionally misclassifying workers as independent con- tractors. They suggested that the code make misclassification an offence and that in the event of a dispute, it be up to employ- ers to prove that a worker is an independent contractor and not an employee. Other issues discussed includ- ed the need for a broader defini- tion of the term "employee" to include dependent contractors and for stronger successor rights to ensure workers do not lose se- niority entitlements when their employer changes due to con- tract retendering. While the report did not in- dicate which suggestions the government would adopt, Haj- du said there were some areas where it could quickly make changes and others that would need more study. She did not specify which amendments could occur right away, but said there would have to be more research on issues such as non-standard employment, minimum wage and benefits. from MODERNIZE on page 3 Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 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