Canadian Payroll Reporter

News February 2018 | CPR Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $185 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 E-mail: customersupport.legaltaxcanada@tr.com Website: www.thomsonreuters.ca One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Media Solutions, Canada Karen Lorimer Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Todd Humber Editor Sheila Brawn sbrawn@rogers.com Editor/Supervisor Sarah Dobson News Editor Marcel Vander Wier Sales Manager Paul Burton paul.burton@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9928 Marketing Manager Robert Symes rob.symes@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9551 Circulation Co-ordinator Keith Fulford keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9585 Payroll Reporter Can R Can R adian adian a www.payroll-reporter.com ©2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. 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 (Thomson Reuters, Media Solutions, Canada). 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 'We have a duty to treat young people fairly' where plans had differences in treatment based on hire date, but that these were limited to businesses with a large number of permanent employees. Consultations with the Fé- dération des travailleurs et tra- vailleuses du Québec (FTQ) turned up only five examples of group insurance plans that pro- vided different treatment for employees based solely on date of hire in 2017, among compa- nies affiliated with the labour organization. Despite what the statistics show about pension plans and the lack of data on group insur- ance plans, the FTQ told the task force that disparity clauses were a growing problem. Even though most of the dis- parity clauses for pension plans are found in plans for non-union workers, the task force said the FTQ was concerned that if em- ployers implemented them for non-union workers, especially those in management, they might try to expand them to their collective agreements. The report also said the FTQ was worried that disparity clauses in group insurance plans could increase social inequality and lead to greater poverty for younger workers. To address the concerns, the task force recommended add- ing prohibitions on disparity- in-treatment clauses for pension plans, group insurance plans and other fringe benefits to the act respecting labour standards. The legislation already pro- hibits employers from providing less advantageous conditions of employment to employees do- ing the same tasks in the same workplace, based solely on their date of hire. The prohibition ap- plies to standards such as wages, hours of work, statutory holi- days, and vacations. Despite the recommendation, the task force advised the gov- ernment to act cautiously, saying more regulation could hurt Que- bec businesses and create chal- lenges for employers trying to ad- minister pension plans governed by more than one province. While the task force said a ban affecting only group insurance plans might be easier to imple- ment because the plans do not have the same level of regulation as pension plans, it added that there was still the potential for problems. It cited the possibility that employers with benefit plans providing post-retirement ben- efits could opt to end them for all employees, which could result in workers close to retirement having to buy a new, expensive policy or being unable to obtain insurance. The report said another pos- sible problem with a ban affect- ing pension and group insurance plans is that no other jurisdic- tions in Canada have clauses in their labour standards laws that prohibit differences in treatment based solely on date of hire. The report warned that if Quebec acted alone, it could prompt employers to eliminate their plans in the province, of- fer less generous plans to Que- bec employees, or relocate their business to another jurisdiction. "If similar legislation were to be introduced in all the other provinces, that would limit the impact on competitiveness and the ability of Quebec businesses to invest, as compared to their competitors in other provinces. It would also remove the appli- cation difficulties for pension plans governed by other juris- dictions and multi-jurisdiction plans," the report said. The task force recommended that the government hold off on implementing prohibitions until other Canadian jurisdictions en- act similar legislation. Labour and youth groups said they were disappointed with the report's recommendations. Force Jeunesse, an organiza- tion focused on improving em- ployment conditions for young workers, said the government must act now rather than consult with other provinces. The FTQ called the recommendation that Quebec work with other juris- dictions before banning dispar- ity clauses "absurd." "Since when has Quebec needed the permission of other provinces to adopt a workplace law?" said Serge Cadieux, secre- tary general of the FTQ. He added that the recommen- dations contradict each other, with one calling for labour stan- dards changes now and another suggesting that the government wait to see what other jurisdic- tions do. Employer groups also ex- pressed concerns. The Conseil de patronat du Québec (CPQ), which represents more than 70,000 mostly private-sector employers in the province, said it opposed adding disparity-in- treatment prohibitions to labour standards legislation. Yves-Thomas Dorval, presi- dent and director general of the CPQ, said the move could ham- per business competitiveness in Quebec and could hurt workers if some employers chose to elimi- nate their pension plans. He also disagreed with suggestions that defined contribution pension plans were not as good as defined benefit plans for workers. The government has not yet said how it plans to respond to the recommendations. "From the standpoint of work- ing conditions and retirement plans, we have a duty to treat fairly young people and future generations," Finance Minister Carlos Leitão said. However, he also noted that the issue is complex and that the government needed time to analyze the proposals to find the best solution. from REPORT on page 10 Despite the recommendation, the task force advised the government to act cautiously.

• Cover