Canadian Payroll Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 rise between 2019 and 2025 to fund improvements to the plan's retirement, post-retirement, survivor and disability benefits. Between 2019 and 2023, the CRA will gradually raise the contribution rate for employers and employees from 4.95 per cent to 5.95 per cent for earnings up to the yearly maximum pen- sionable earnings (YMPE). The rate will consist of the current 4.95 per cent rate — called the "base contribution rate" — plus an extra rate called the "first ad- ditional contribution rate." The first additional contribu- tion rate will be 0.15 per cent in 2019, 0.3 per cent in 2020, 0.5 per cent in 2021, 0.75 per cent in 2022, and one per cent in 2023 and later years. Beginning in 2024, the CRA will implement another contri- bution rate of four per cent each for employers and employees on pensionable earnings between the YMPE and a new upper earnings limit. The new rate will be called the "second additional contribution rate." The proposed amendments to the CPP regulations would establish a new formula for cal- culating CPP contributions that includes both the base and first additional contribution rates. As a result, the overall em- ployee contribution rate would be 5.10 per cent in 2019, 5.25 per cent in 2020, 5.45 per cent in 2021, 5.70 per cent in 2022, and 5.95 per cent in 2023 and later years. Employers would pay at the same rate. The regulations would also provide a formula for calculat- ing the second additional contri- bution rate and set out rules for calculating contributions when employees move from Quebec to other parts of Canada. The CRA said it would update its payroll deductions tables and formulas to incorporate the new requirements. Alberta Government delays new youth employment rules The Alberta government has delayed implementing new rules for hiring young people. The province's Ministry of Labour had planned to bring the changes into effect on Sept. 1, but a spokesperson for Labour Minister Christina Gray said the government was not yet ready. The planned changes, which stem from amendments to the Employment Standards Code passed last year, include in- creasing the minimum age for work from 12 years to 13 years and placing restrictions on the type of work that children under 18 years old may do and on the hours they may work. Spokesperson Michelle New- lands said the ministry spent the summer consulting on the pro- posed changes and heard that more work needed to be done. "Our government believes all workers deserve a safe and healthy workplace and this includes young workers. We will continue to take the time needed to work with businesses, guardians and youth to get these changes right," she said. The government has not up- dated its timeline on this matter. Nova Scotia Bill would alter leave rules The Nova Scotia government is proposing to amend some of its labour standards leave provi- sions to align them with recent federal changes to employment insurance (EI) rules. The EI changes, implemented last year, include reducing the waiting period for benefits from two weeks to one week and al- lowing parents to choose be- tween receiving EI parental ben- efits for up to 35 weeks, at a rate of 55 per cent of insurable earn- ings (to a maximum amount) or for up to 61 weeks, paid at a 33 per cent rate. Other changes included al- lowing family members beyond a child's parents to claim EI ben- efits for caring for a critically ill child as well as creating a 15- week benefit for individuals car- ing for a critically ill adult family member. Nova Scotia Bill 29, the La- bour Standards Code (amend- ed), which Labour and Ad- vanced Education Minister Labi Kousoulis tabled in the pro- vincial legislature in mid Sep- tember, proposes the following changes: • The length of pregnancy leave would be reduced from 17 weeks to 16 weeks to reflect the shorter waiting period for EI benefits. • Parental leave would increase from 52 to 77 weeks and com- bined pregnancy/parental leave would rise from 52 to 77 weeks. • Eligibility for leave for a criti- cally ill or injured child would be broadened to include fam- ily members other than the child's parents. • A new 16-week unpaid leave would be created for employ- ees with at least three months of service who need to care for a critically ill adult family member. Kousoulis said the amend- ments would take effect on the date that the bill receives royal assent. Ontario Minimum wage to remain at $14 The Ontario government will keep the province's general min- imum wage rate at $14 an hour in 2019, Labour Minister Laurie Scott announced. Under amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 passed in 2017 by the pre- vious government, the general minimum wage rate was sched- uled to rise to $15 on Jan. 1. However, during the prov- ince's election campaign in the spring, the Progressive Conser- vative (PC) Party promised to freeze the rate at $14 if elected. In late September, Scott told the legislative assembly that the PC government would honour that commitment. "On January 1, 2018, On- tario's general minimum wage for most workers jumped from $11.60 to $14 an hour. The sud- den 20 per cent increase in the minimum wage hasn't helped our economy, and an additional increase to $15 will not help it either," she said. "We need to give employers time to adjust to the new mini- mum wage, which is why we promised to keep the minimum wage at $14 an hour," said Scott. It is expected that other mini- mum wage rates will also remain at their current levels. In addition, Scott said the government is reviewing other amendments the previous gov- ernment made in Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017. Some business groups have called for the government to re- peal the bill's amendments. Yukon Employment standard changes being considered The Yukon government is con- sidering changing some of the leave provisions in its Employ- ment Standards Act to better align them with employment in- surance benefit rules for paren- tal leave and family caregiving. Changes proposed include: • The length of parental leave would rise from 37 to 62 weeks. • A new parental sharing leave would allow for up to five extra weeks of unpaid leave for em- ployees taking up to 35 weeks of parental leave if the second parent agreed to take at least five weeks of the leave. Parents taking up to 61 weeks of leave could take an extra eight weeks if the second parent agreed to take at least eight weeks off. The new leave would align with a proposed new EI paren- tal sharing benefit. • The length of compassion- ate care leave would increase from eight weeks over a 26- week period to 27 weeks with- in a 52-week period. • A new family caregiver leave would allow eligible employ- ees to take up to 16 weeks of unpaid leave to provide care or support to a critically ill adult family member. • The 37-week unpaid leave for a critically ill child would be broadened to include fam- ily members beyond just the child's parents. Yukon residents and employ- ers had until early October to provide feedback on the pro- posals. The government plans to post a summary of the feedback on its website in November. from CRA on page 1 Legislative Roundup CPR | November 2018

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