Canadian HR Reporter

June 2019 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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CANADIAN HR REPORTER JUNE 2019 10 NEWS Alberta, Ontario focus on payroll Provinces pledge to reduce red tape, undo employment standards amendments BY SHEILA BRAWN P ayroll issues are on the minds of government policymakers in at least two provinces. In Alberta, a newly elected gov- ernment has pledged to undo a number of the previous govern- ment's payroll-related employ- ment standards amendments. In Ontario, the government is proposing to work with employer and industry groups to find ways to reduce payroll-related red tape for businesses. The proposals in both juris- dictions suggest changes may be ahead for payroll professionals. Alberta's UCP looks to cut red tape During the recent Alberta election campaign, the United Conser- vative Party (UCP) said it would cut red tape by one-third over its mandate. It also committed to implementing a "one-in/one-out" rule, requiring ministries to iden- tify at least one offsetting regula- tion for every new regulation they create. e UCP also said one of its first actions in government would be to table legislation to amend the province's employment standards and labour relations laws. "Bill 2 under a UCP government would be the Open for Business Act, which would reverse job- killing NDP policies, restore workplace democracy, bring bal- ance to Alberta labour laws, and incentivize the creation of youth employment," said UCP campaign documents. Proposed employment stan- dard amendments introduced in May include changes to general holiday pay rules. e UCP has proposed returning to prior em- ployment standards rules that required employees to work for their employer for at least 30 days in the 12 months before a general holiday to qualify for holiday pay. e previous NDP government eliminated the 30-day require- ment in 2018. e UCP has also promised a return to a regular/irregular work- day distinction for calculating gen- eral holiday pay. Since 2018, the Employment Standards Code has required employers to pay employees for general holidays on which they do not work, regardless of whether the holiday falls on a regular workday. With the 2018 amendments, employers must now pay employ- ees who work on a holiday their average daily wages for the day, plus 1.5 times their regular wage rate for each hour worked, or pay them their regular wage rate for the day and give them a day off with pay before their next annual vacation. This applies regardless of whether the holiday falls on a reg- ular workday. e UCP is also aiming to re- verse another 2018 amendment that requires employers with overtime banking agreements to provide employees with 1.5 hours of time off with pay for each hour of overtime worked. Previously, employees could only bank one hour for each over- time hour worked. Minimum wage is another area that may see changes. While the new government said it would keep the province's general mini- mum wage rate at $15 an hour, it added that it might allow for other minimum wage rates for certain workers. It has proposed a $13-an-hour minimum wage rate for workers under 18 years old and the cre- ation of a minimum wage expert panel to assess whether workers in the hospitality industry who serve alcohol should have a lower mini- mum wage rate. For some employers, the pro- posals are welcome. "Alberta's move to a $15 mini- mum wage rate has taken its toll on businesses who are also faced with higher costs for overtime, holi- days and restrictions on how they schedule workers," said the Alberta Chamber of Commerce. However, labour advocates warned that the proposed chang- es, especially those affecting overtime pay, would be bad for workers. "The NDP brought Alberta in line with all other provinces by guaranteeing that all banked overtime would be calculated on a time-and-a-half basis instead of a straight-time basis, whether it was taken as cash or time off," said Gil McGowan, president of the Al- berta Federation of Labour. "e change proposed by the UCP would make Alberta an out- lier among Canadian provinces and it would provide a big finan- cial incentive for employers to use banked overtime to deal with overtime rather than paying it out," he said. "Employers that don't currently have a banked overtime policy will almost certainly introduce them in order to avoid paying time-and-a-half." Ontario looks to ensure 'efficient administration' Meanwhile, Ontario's announce- ment was included in the pro- vincial budget, tabled by Finance Minister Vic Fedeli on April 11. "e government is committed to ensuring the more effective and efficient administration of pay- roll legislation," said the budget document. "To achieve this, the govern- ment is exploring working with key partners, such as the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA), to es- tablish the Ontario Payroll Bur- den Reduction Advisory Council. is approach aligns with steps already taken in other Canadian jurisdictions." e proposal is one of several initiatives Fedeli put forward to reduce what he calls "regulatory burden" on businesses. He also announced that the gov- ernment would continue review- ing ways to streamline business- related regulations, with a target of reducing them by 25 per cent by 2020. Additionally, Fedeli proposed that the government introduce one important red-tape reduc- tion bill each fall and spring dur- ing its term in office, in addition to tabling other bills to lessen regula- tory requirements. "Once fully implemented, these changes are expected to provide Ontario businesses with over $400 million in ongoing savings on their compliance costs," said the budget. e CPA said it was pleased to hear the government might set up a payroll advisory council, add- ing that the province needs to be more in line with other jurisdic- tions when it comes to regulating businesses. "(Ontario) currently has the most onerous payroll compliance regulatory framework in Canada, outside of Quebec," said the CPA. "Ontario has more payroll-specif- ic regulatory requirements than British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba combined." Remittances from personal income tax, health premiums, employer health tax contribu- tions, and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) pre- miums account for about $50.5 billion, or 40 per cent, of the province's total annual revenues, according to CPA president Peter Tzanetakis. "We are pleased that the bud- get recognizes payroll's essential role in the economy and the work done by payroll professionals on the government's behalf to man- age employee and employer rev- enue contributions efficiently and effectively," he said. Other payroll-related measures in the budget included proposals for the Ministry of Labour to use more digital tools in employment standards administration to re- duce duplication and red tape for employers. e proposal builds on a recent announcement that the ministry has developed a new online self- audit tool for employers to replace paper audits that employment standards officers used to do. The budget also proposed amendments to pension plan leg- islation to allow plan sponsors to use electronic communication as the default method for communi- cating with plan members. It also reiterated previous an- nouncements that the govern- ment would freeze the minimum wage at $14 an hour until October 2020 and conduct an operational review of the WSIB, focusing on financial oversight, effectiveness and efficiency. Changes in P.E.I, Newfoundland and Labrador Employers and payroll profession- als in Newfoundland and Labra- dor and Prince Edward Island may also see payroll-related changes in their jurisdictions. Shortly after delivering the bud- get on April 16, the Newfound- land and Labrador government called a provincial election. New mandates generally bring legisla- tive amendments. One likely change payroll pro- fessionals can expect is the elimi- nation of the province's Tempo- rary Deficit Reduction Levy by the end of the year. e levy applies to individuals with an annual taxable income above $50,000. Employers collect it from employees with their in- come tax source deductions. e provincial Liberal party — which implemented the levy in 2016 — has said it would only ap- ply until the end of 2019. Meanwhile, P.E.I.'s new minor- ity Progressive Conservative gov- ernment has pledged to raise the basic personal amount claimed on a provincial TD1 (currently $9,160) to $12,000 and to index future increases to inflation. e Official Opposition Green Party has said it wants to see the P.E.I. minimum wage reach $15 an hour by 2023. It is currently $12.25. Sheila Brawn is a freelance writer based in Toronto. Jason Kenney, Alberta's recently elected premier and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), speaks at the legislature in Edmonton on April 17. Credit: REUTERS/Candace Elliott "e NDP brought Alberta in line with all the other provinces by guaranteeing all banked overtime would be calculated on a time-and-a-half basis." Payroll Reporter Canadian www.payroll-reporter.com

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