Canadian Payroll Reporter

News must also set out how it calculat- ed the amounts for termination pay, severance pay, vacation pay and other wages unless it pro- vides the employee with that in- formation in some other manner. Ontario also has rules cover- ing vacation statements. The Employment Standards Act, 2000 allows employees to make a written request to their em- ployer for a statement setting out the vacation time and pay information that the act requires employers to record and retain for each employee. This includes information on the amount of vacation time each employee has earned since being hired but has not taken before the start of the vacation entitlement year, vacation time earned and taken during the va- cation entitlement year or stub period, and the amount of vaca- tion time remaining in the year or stub period. Employers must also keep re- cords on the amount of vacation pay paid to each employee dur- ing the year and stub period and how they calculated it. A "stub" period is the time between the date an employee is hired and the date his first va- cation entitlement year begins if an employer uses a 12-month period other than the employ- ee's date of hire to determine vacation entitlement. It can also be the time be- tween the end of a standard va- cation entitlement year and the beginning of an alternative one if an employer switches from using date of hire to another 12-month period for vacations. If an employee requests a va- cation statement, the employer must provide it within seven days of the request or by the first payday after the request, which- ever is later. However, if the re- quest is for the current vacation entitlement year or stub period, the employer has to provide the statement within seven days after the beginning of the next vacation entitlement year (or first vacation entitlement year if there is a stub period) or by the first payday after the stub period or vacation entitlement year ends, whichever is later. Employers only have to pro- vide a statement once for each vacation entitlement year or stub period. An exception applies for situ- ations where an employer pays vacation pay on each payday as it is earned. In this case, employ- ers must report the vacation pay being paid separately from other wages on each pay statement or give the employee a separate statement that shows the vaca- tion pay that is being paid. Some jurisdictions require employers to provide employ- ees with a statement showing how they calculated payments, if the employee requests it. In the Northwest Territories and Nun- avut, employers must comply with an employee request for a detailed pay statement showing the way wages, bonuses and liv- ing allowances were calculated. In Alberta, if an employee requests it, an employer must provide the employee with a de- tailed statement showing how it calculated the employee's earn- ings, as well as the method it used to determine any bonus or living allowance paid to the em- ployee, whether or not it is part of the employee's wages. Providing electronic pay statements Almost all jurisdictions in Can- ada have provisions in their la- bour standards laws that set out requirements employers must meet if they want to give their employees electronic pay state- ments instead of paper ones. In jurisdictions without legislative provisions, some boards have an administrative policy that allows employers to provide statements electronically. To use electronic pay state- ments, most jurisdictions re- quire employers to ensure that employees have confidential ac- cess to the statements and a way of printing them at the work- place. In Ontario, even though the legislation does not specify confidential access, the Employ- ment Standards Board states that, "Confidentiality will be a reasonable expectation." Before using electronic pay statements, payroll professionals should consult the labour stan- dards law in their jurisdiction or contact the applicable labour standards board to ensure their statements will comply with jurisdiction-specific require- ments. For example, Quebec's labour standards body notes that whether a pay statement is on paper or electronic, employ- ers must "remit" it to employees and not just "make it available." The Ontario Employment Standards Board points out is- sues employers must consider when allowing employees to make a paper copy of an elec- tronic statement. In its Employ- ment Standards Act, 2000: Policy and Interpretation Manual, the board lists the following situa- tions as examples that would not comply with the act's e-state- ment requirements: • employees do not have access to computer equipment and software at the workplace to print pay statements • employees have access to computer equipment and soft- ware at the workplace, but are not trained how to use them • employers do not provide employees with an e-mail ac- count at the workplace • employees have to ask others at the workplace (other than their manager) to make a copy for them. These are just some of the is- sues that payroll professionals should consider when reviewing their pay statements. If a review results in changes to the state- ments, it is a good idea to notify employees of the changes made and remind them of the impor- tance of checking their state- ment with each pay. Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business). Return Mail Registration # 1522825 | Return Postage Guaranteed Paid News Revenue Toronto Canadian Payroll Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications: • Canadian HR Reporter — www.hrreporter.com • Canadian Occupational Safety magazine — www.cos-mag.com • Canadian Payroll Reporter — www.payroll-reporter.com • Canadian Employment Law Today — www.employmentlawtoday.com • Canadian Labour Reporter — www.labour-reporter.com See carswell.com for information January 2017 | CPR from DO YOUR on page 3 Statement regulations vary by province Before using electronic pay statements, payroll professionals should consult the labour standards law in their jurisdiction.

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