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Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2019
News Canadian Payroll Reporter
Private members' bills can affect payroll
While they rarely become law, legislative attempts can influence government policy
BY SHEILA BRAWN
BILLS proposing new statu-
tory holidays, domestic violence
leave, protections for volunteer
firefighters, and minimum wage
hikes.
These are just some of the pri-
vate members' bills put forward
in the House of Commons and
provincial legislatures over the
last year.
Private members' bills are
pieces of legislation sponsored
by members of Parliament or a
provincial legislative assembly
who are not cabinet ministers.
The members may be part of the
governing party or an opposi-
tion party.
The bills may be private or pub-
lic. Private bills deal with matters
specific to a certain individual or
corporation, while public bills
cover areas of policy within the
legislature's jurisdiction.
Like government bills, private
members' bills must follow a
number of steps to become law.
They include putting the bill on
the legislature's order paper, ta-
bling the bill in the legislature
(first reading), passing second
reading, being studied by a leg-
islative committee, passing third
reading, and receiving royal as-
sent. Federal legislation must
also go through a similar process
in the Senate.
Bills come into force on royal
assent, on a date specified in the
bill, or set by proclamation.
For payroll professionals, it
can be challenging to stay abreast
of the many laws and regulations
that govern payroll in Canada
without worrying about bills
proposed by private members,
which often do not make it be-
yond first reading.
However, it is important for
payroll professionals to be aware
of private members' bills that
may affect payroll-related laws.
Sometimes the bills do pass all
stages and become law.
Other times, they may fail, but
the government may later adopt
similar legislation of its own.
Even in cases where private
members' bills are unsuccess-
ful, it may still be worth knowing
about them to gain insight into
the way a future government may
handle a payroll-related issue.
Here is a look at some payroll-
related private members' bills
tabled in Canadian legislatures
over the last year:
Saskatchewan Bill 611:
The bill, tabled by Saskatchewan
NDP Leader Ryan Meili last No-
vember, proposes to gradually
raise the provincial minimum
wage rate to $15 an hour by Jan.
1, 2022. The current minimum
wage rate is $11.06.
"Saskatchewan is the only
province in Canada where the
minimum wage is less than half
the median wage, which makes
it especially hard for low-income
workers in Saskatchewan to af-
ford the basics," said Meili when
he introduced the bill.
While the bill is scheduled to
come up for second reading, the
Saskatchewan Party, which gov-
erns the province, has not indi-
cated that it would be willing to
pass it or table similar changes.
Saskatchewan Bill 614:
The bill would require employ-
ers to pay employees for up to
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