Canadian HR Reporter

June 2018 CAN

Canadian HR Reporter is the national journal of human resource management. It features the latest workplace news, HR best practices, employment law commentary and tools and tips for employers to get the most out of their workforce.

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PM40065782 RO9496 THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT June 2018 www.hrreporter.com Quebec looks to tighten pension rules Less flexibility for employers not good for business: Experts BY SARAH DOBSON AS with several other provinces, Quebec is revamping its labour standards. Among the changes proposed in Bill 176, the province is look- ing to boost the number of weeks for leaves, address psychological harassment, become stricter with temporary staffing agencies, and change overtime rules. But one proposed alteration around pensions is causing a stir as it could have quite an impact on how employers compensate, attract and retain employees, ac- cording to experts. Essentially, employers that offer one type of pension plan would not be able to offer a different type of pension plan to newer employ- ees based on their hiring date. The amendment concerns Section 87.1 of the original act, which states: "No agreement or decree may… operate to apply to the employee solely on the ba- sis of the employee's hiring date, a condition of employment less advantageous than that which is applicable to other employees performing the same tasks in the same establishment." The proposed change would add: "Any distinction made solely on the basis of a hiring date, in re- lation to pension plans or other employee benefits, that affects employees performing the same tasks in the same establishment is also prohibited." In reality, the rule was already present, but now it's being more clearly defined in relation to pen- sions, according to Todd Saulnier, vice-chair of the ACPM National Policy Committee in Halifax. ATLANTIC CANADA FIGHTS TO HIRE, RETAIN WORKERS HR practitioners across the country would be wise to take notice: Expert BY MARCEL VANDER WIER F inding and keeping workers in Atlantic Canada has become more difficult than ever. And if a long-term solution is to be found, the region needs to become more than just a stopover for immigrants, according to a report released in March by the Public Policy Forum, a think tank in Ottawa. At present, the Maritimes lag far behind the rest of Canada in terms of immigrant retention, it said. Nova Scotia's regional five-year retention rate is 72 per cent; Newfoundland and Labrador's is 56 per cent; New Brunswick is 52 per cent; and Prince Edward Island is 18 per cent. Every province outside the Mari- times has a retention rate above 80 per cent. e reasons immigrants continue to exit the area are clear, said e People Imperative: Strategies to Grow Population and Prosperity in Atlantic Canada: "ey seek better job opportunities and higher compensation, better educational opportunities... better social services and cultural amenities, and ties to ethnic community and extended family." While the region's major urban centres are faring well in terms of recruitment and retention, rural em- ployers are hardest hit, said Charlie Carter, policy lead for the Public Policy Forum, which is conducting a three-year research project on the issue. "It's the small towns, the rural areas that are really struggling," he said. "ere are swaths of the coun- tryside where there are a lot of people who are out of work, but they tend to be quite a bit older and they simply don't have the skill sets that employers are now looking for." Higher-skilled firms have been able to fill roles with new graduates or international recruits, but the same cannot be said for industry sectors such as forestry, trucking and agriculture, said Carter. "Young people in the region are not pursuing those types of careers, and the types of wages that are avail- able just aren't drawing people into those fields or Credit: Henryk Sadura (Shutterstock) The Maritimes (Halifax above) lag far behind the rest of Canada in terms of immigration retention, according to a report. IMMIGRATION > pg. 14 Quebec (Montreal above) is the latest Canadian province to attempt a revamp of its labour standards — including pension changes. MOVE > pg. 10 Credit: Songquan Deng (Shutterstrock) Hiring people with mental illness ROI ranges between $56,000 and $204,000: Study page 2 Recruitment software leads to efficiencies Canadian Tire, City Wide and Intek see gains by embracing new tools page 23 AI, automation and HR Four human resources leaders talk about how they are implementing new technologies page 26 page 31 Understanding blockchain How might this emerging tool impact human capital business management challenges? payroll-reporter.com LEGISLATION PAYROLL NEWS, AND TIPS

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