Canadian Labour Reporter

6 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 news January 5, 2015 From the experts: Below are the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses' top labour stories, as chosen by Corinne Pohlmann, senior vice-president of national affairs in Ottawa: the good "One of the big stories this year was the introduction of the small business job credit. That will allow small employers to get a bit of a break on their employment insurance premiums, starting in 2015. Payroll taxes tend to be the most difficult for small businesses to ab- sorb. It's a tax on jobs. Anytime we can lower that and make hiring easier and less expensive, the more money can go to salary or train- ing — and that's a good thing. " the bad "There were extensive changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. It's clearly going to make it very difficult, if not impossible, for many small companies who are using temporary foreign work- ers to keep their businesses operational, especially in the hospitality sector. We've already started hearing stories of firms who are quite alarmed by the impact — part of that is about the price and part of that is because of the heavy restrictions now on it. We realize it's not going to go back to what it was, but we do think we need to re-evalu- ate how far it actually went in the first place, and make sure it doesn't do damage to certain jurisdictions and sectors of the economy." the Wait-and-see "The Canada Job Grant was introduced last year but is only being implemented now, and each province is implementing it in their own way. Training is huge — it's really important, it's very expensive. The Canada Job Grant put emphasis on employer's needs, which was an important principle for us because employers know what training they need, so if they focus some of their dollars towards the employer's needs, we're hopeful that this will help encourage more training within the small business sector. " Photo: Chris Wattie (Reuters) Employment Minister Jason Kenney bore the brunt of much flack this year after reports indicated certain employers were abusing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, including getting work permits for foreign employees despite Canadians being readily available for the job. As such, Ottawa introduced an overhaul of the program. Under the new system, it would be more difficult and costly for employers to hire such workers. Provinces such as Alberta have decried the changes, saying companies will experience sharp labour shortages. parent, child or spouse. pension: Alberta Teachers Re- tirement Fund and the Alberta School Employee Benefit Early Retiree package. No other de- tails available. bereavement leave: 10 days for the death of a child or spouse. 5 days for the death of a parent, brother, sister, parent of spouse, son-in-law, daughter- in-law, grandchild or relative who resides with the teacher. 1 day for the funeral of a grand- parent, brother-in-law or sister-in-law. 1 day to serve as a eulogist, pallbearer, unpaid so- loist or unpaid accompaniment at a funeral. If travel is required, regular commercial travelling time will be added on to leave. sample rates of pay, current: Teacher, 4 years of schooling: $57,940 per year, rising after 10 years to $92,169 Teacher, 5 years of schooling: $61,342, rising after 10 years to $95,558 Teacher, 6 years of schooling: $65,179, rising after 10 years to $99,408 Additional allowances (subject to 2% wage increase effective Sept. 1, 2015) Principal, 0-499 students: $27,181 per year Principal, 500-649 students: $28,584 Principal, 650-899 students: $31,390 Principal, 900-999 students: $34,197 Principal, 1,100-1,199 students: $35,599 Principal, 1,200-plus students: $37,002 Assistant principal, 0-499 stu- dents: $16,309 Assistant principal, 500-649 students: $17,150 Assistant principal, 650-899 students: $18,834 Assistant principal, 900-999 students: $20,518 Assistant principal, 1,000-1,199 students: $21,359 Assistant principal, 1,200-plus students: $22,201 Associate superintendent: Up to$7,374 (based on $167 per course, $144 per teacher, $2,396 per course) editor's notes: Principal leave: 2 paid days per year for school-based principals, which expire in June each year. Professional development: A teacher eligible for a leave of absence for the purpose of study shall receive 70% of ben- efits plus continuation of employer contribution of benefits, or the minimum salary on the pay grid per category of teacher's schooling, plus employer contribution to benefits – whichever is greater. Compassionate care: 5 paid days for critical illness of a spouse or child, parent, brother, sister, parent of spouse, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grand- child or relative who resides with the teacher. LIBRARY gibsons and district public library board gibsons, b.C. (490 library staffers) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 391. renewal agreement: Effective Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2017. Signed on Aug. 26, 2014. Wage adjustments: Effective Jan. 1, 2014: 25¢ per hour Effective Jan. 1, 2015: 1.35% Effective Jan. 1, 2016: 39¢ per hour Effective Jan. 1, 2017: 1.8% shift premium: $1.50 per hour for all hours worked on Sun- days, 50¢ for employees hired between May 2002 and Febru- ary 2011. No Sunday premium for employees hired after Feb- from Collective agreements > pg. 1

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