Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 5, 2015 FEATURES 15 not apply to all of the employer's employees, the employer will start participating on Jan. 1, 2020. Employers without a workplace pension plan and with at least 500 employees will start contributing on Jan. 1, 2017. Employers with 50 to 499 employees and with- out a workplace pension plan will start contributing on Jan. 1, 2018. Employers with 50 or fewer em- ployees and no workplace pension plan will start contributing on Jan. 1, 2019. Contributions will be phased in, starting with 0.8 per cent of earnings in 2015, increasing to 1.8 per cent of earnings and fi- nally to 1.9 per cent of earnings in 2019. On Jan. 1, 2020, the ORPP will apply to employers with a work- place pension plan that is or could be a comparable plan but may re- quire modifications. On that date, employers that have employees who are not members of a comparable plan will also be required to contribute to the ORPP. Ontario has not stated whether the number of employees will be based on employees in Ontario or whether it will look to the number of employees in Canada. Employ- ers that operate in multiple prov- inces will want to follow that point closely. Considerations The Ontario government has stated its preferred alternative is an expansion of the CPP and it is proceeding with the ORPP due to the intransigence of the federal government. The historic role of public pensions such as the CPP has been to address poverty among seniors. e introduction of the ORPP marks a significant incursion by government into what had previously been left to individuals and employers. Individuals have been remind- ed repeatedly and from many cor- ners that they must save more for retirement. at some have cho- sen not to do so has emboldened Ontario to step in and require that they do so. Having determined a lack of retirement saving in the private sector, Ontario is going to force additional retirement saving under the guise of a universal plan. For employers, the ORPP promises cost, confusion and complexity. A separate mecha- nism for collecting contributions that is not integrated with other payroll remittances seems par- ticularly fraught. For those em- ployers that offer a comparable workplace plan, any period of non-participation in the plan will mean enrolling and contributing on behalf of those employees. The ORPP will likely trigger many plan design reviews. ose employers that provide any com- bination of group RRSPs, deferred profit sharing plans (DPSPs) and group TFSAs will want to con- sider if the same expenditure on retirement plans could be recon- figured such that the plan is a comparable workplace plan. Employers that provide pen- sion plans that do not currently qualify as comparable will want to reassess the design to deter- mine if incremental changes will permit avoiding participation in the ORPP for less than the ORPP contribution rate. Ross Gascho is a partner at Fasken Martineau in Toronto. is article re- flects the views of the author and not his law firm or Canadian HR Reporter. PENSION < pg. 14 ORPP promises employers 'cost, confusion, complexity' establishing knowledge around ne w C SR pro g rams and initiatives. Customized: Successful enter- prise app developers take a page from popular consumer loyalty rewards programs — uncovering underlying employee motivations and target messages that will spur action. For example, apps give CSR managers the ability to segment staff by any number of demo- graphics or divisions and develop customized messages. Analytics suites attached to mobile apps can remember which employees expressed interest in a particu- lar type of initiative or program (such as energy or waste) and will weight future delivery of messages to these topics. is is the ultimate in develop- ing a one-on-one, firm-to-em- ployee relationship. Gamification: Many mobile apps draw upon the mechanics of social psychology and behavioural theory to gently "nudge" employ- ees towards environmentally preferable behaviours. Creating a gamified experience and reward- ing employees for engagement can establish a fun, competitive and social context for CSR ac- tivities, increasing both employee awareness and participation in such programs. Smartphones are a game- changer for communicating and aligning a team in a corporate environment. Off-the-shelf software, in- cluding mobile applications, make it easy for CSR managers to leverage the most compelling aspects of today's communica- tions techniques to supercharge employee engagement in their CSR programs. Lindsey Goodchild is the Toronto- based CEO of Nudge Rewards, pow- ered by Push Notifications, which helps employers harness smartphone technology to engage and mobilize em- ployees. She can be reached at lgood- child@nudgerewards.com, (647) 981- 5752 or @lindsgoodchild. CSR< pg. 12 'Nudge' workers

• Cover