Canadian Payroll Reporter - sample

4 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2019 News in Brief A look at news, facts and figures shaping the world of payroll professionals Phoenix payroll backlog could last years: CBC › OTTAWA — It may be another three to five years before the federal government clears a backlog of payroll problems with its Phoenix pay system, CBC has reported. Citing an internal government briefing note from last August, CBC also said government officials think it could take at least 10 years for the system to reach "overall stability" and that uncertainly around the pay system is hurting the government's efforts to recruit and retain employees. In late January, the government reported a backlog of 275,000 cases. It also noted that its pay centre was only processing about half of its transactions within the required time frames, short of its target of 95 per cent. The government has struggled with Phoenix since it began implementing it in February 2016. Phoenix was part of the government's Transformation of Pay Initiative, which also included centralizing payroll for 46 of the government's 101 departments and agencies at one location in Miramichi, N.B., and reducing the number of pay staff. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), a union representing federal workers, said problems with the pay system have affected over 200,000 civil servants. Over the last few years, the federal government has earmarked millions of dollars to try and correct issues with Phoenix. It has also announced plans to replace the pay system. Last fall, it published a tender notice looking for private-sector expertise to identify possible innovative alternatives for a new pay system. In the meantime, PSAC said it wants the government to provide a "clear and accountable" timeline for stabilizing Phoenix, eliminating the backlog, and moving to a new pay system. "After three years of Phoenix, about two-thirds of HR data is still being inputted late, causing pay problems across the board. Phoenix continues to also delay the implementation of our collective agreements and the retroactive pay our members are owed," said a PSAC statement. It also called for the government to pay damages to compensate public-sector workers for financial and emotional hardships they have experienced because of Phoenix problems. Feds appoint panel to study CLC issues › OTTAWA — The federal government has ap- pointed an independent expert panel to study "complex" workplace issues affecting federally regulated employers and employees. Employment Minister Patty Hajdu said the seven-member panel would examine and make recommendations on a federal minimum wage, labour standards protections for non-standard workers, and access and portability of benefits. It will also study giving employees the right to disconnect outside of work hours and look at the issue of "collective voice" for non-unionized workers. The panel will be headed by Sunil Johal, policy director at the Mowat Centre, a think tank in Toronto. Hajdu said the panel would build on consultations the government held in 2017 and 2018 to update federal labour standards to better reflect today's work environment. She added that the panel would operate at arm's length from the government to ensure that it provides independent advice. Hajdu said the government would announce the results of the panel's work this summer. Flight Centre faces proposed class action over unpaid overtime › TORONTO — The Flight Centre Travel Group (Canada) is facing a proposed class action claiming more than $100 million in damages for unpaid overtime. In a statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in late February, proposed representative plaintiff Stephen Aps alleged — among other things — that the company violated labour standards laws and its employment contracts by failing to pay travel consultants for overtime work. Aps worked for the company as an international travel consultant at one of its Mississauga, Ont., locations from April 2014 to January 2015. Law firm Goldblatt Partners filed the claim on behalf of all current and former travel consultants who have worked for the company since October 2010. The Flight Centre has locations in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. The allegations in the statement have not been proven in court. The statement alleged that the company did not monitor or accurately record the consultants' hours of work and that it had no system in place to track, monitor, record, or compensate the travel consultants for their actual hours of work. It also alleged that the travel consultants regularly had to work extra hours to carry out their job duties, including sometimes working through unpaid lunch breaks, and that the company's overtime policy made it difficult for employees to receive overtime pay. In addition to claiming $100 million in general damages, the statement of claim also asked for $10 million in punitive, aggravated, and exemplary damages. In a statement to the Toronto Star, the company said it had not done anything wrong and that it planned to vigorously defend itself. The court must certify the class action before it can proceed. New York City proposes paid personal leave › NEW YORK — New York City aims to be the first city in the United States to require employers to give employees paid days off for personal leave. Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that he plans to pursue legislation that will require private-sector employers with at least five employees to provide up to 10 days off with pay each year for employees with at least 120 days of employment. If enacted, the proposal would allow employees to take time off for any reason, including vacation, religious observances, bereavement, and to spend time with their family. The time off would be in addition to five days of paid sick leave that employers have been required to provide since 2014. "Workers across the nation have been working too hard without enough time to rest and recharge or enough time for family and important life events," said de Blasio. "Every other major nation recognizes the necessity of paid personal time. We as a country must get there, and New York City will lead the way," he said. "To be the fairest big city in America, New Yorkers can't be forced to choose between bringing home a paycheque and taking time off to just disconnect or spend time with loved ones — that choice ends with paid personal time," said de Blasio. The legislation would guarantee time off for about 3.4 million New Yorkers, including those who now have no paid personal time, including workers in professional services, retail, and the hotel and food services sectors. The city already provides government employees with more than two weeks of paid personal leave per year. Weekly earnings steady in December: StatCan › OTTAWA — Average weekly earnings of non- farm payroll employees were about $1,012 in December, little changed from $1,011 in No- vember, Statistics Canada reports. On a year-over-year basis, weekly earnings were up 1.8 per cent in December. Changes in weekly earnings reflected a number of factors, including wage growth, changes in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and level of job experience, as well as average hours worked per week. Non-farm payroll employees worked an average of 32.5 hours a week in December, down from 32.7 hours in November and 32.8 hours in December 2017. Year-over-year earnings of non-farm payroll employees increased in seven provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Earnings declined in Saskatchewan and were little changed in Alberta and Prince Edward Island.

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