Canadian Payroll Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CPR | December 2015 Legislative Roundup from FEDERAL on page 1 Government House leader Dominic LeBlanc says one of the government's first priorities will be to table a bill to implement the tax changes for 2016. Speaking to the media after the new govern- ment's first cabinet meeting in early November, LeBlanc said he expects the income tax amend- ments to be tabled shortly after Parliament opens on Dec. 3. The government is expected to keep rates for the other tax brackets at 15 per cent, 26 per cent and 29 per cent; however, due to indexing of the income tax system, it will revise the in- come thresholds for the rates. Reduced EI premium rates confi rmed Service Canada has confirmed the 2016 reduced employment insurance (EI) premium rates for employers taking part in the federal government's EI Premi- um Reduction Program. The program provides lower EI premium rates for registered employers that have govern- ment-approved short-term dis- ability plans. The regular pre- mium rate for employers not participating in the program is 1.4 times the employee rate. For 2016, the reduced rates are: 1.296 for category 1 plans (1.271 for Quebec employees), 1.216 for category 2 plans (1.173 for Quebec employees), 1.219 for category 3 plans (1.177 for Quebec employees), 1.203 for category 4 plans (1.156 for Quebec employees). The category refers to the group to which the government assigns an employer, based on the type of wage-loss replace- ment plan the employer has set up. Manitoba WCB to phase in new assess- ment rate model The province's Workers Com- pensation Board (WCB) says it will phase in a new assessment rate model between 2018 and 2020. To help pave the way, the WCB will implement rate-set- ting changes in 2016 and 2017. The board says the new model is the result of a review of the as- sessment system done in 2014. "Over the next five years, we'll be phasing in changes to create a system that balances individual employers' claims experience with collective liability," said WCB president and CEO Win- ston Maharaj. The new model will include the following features: •A new experience factor will give different weights to an em- ployer's claims cost experience, depending on its size. This is dif- ferent from the current model, which treats all employers the same. Under the new model, a large employer's individual cost experience will have a greater impact on its premiums, while for small- and medium-size em- ployers, the industry they are in will have a greater impact on their premiums than their own experience. •The board will reduce the number of risk category ranges, resulting in a smaller range of potential rates above and below the average for the category in which the board places an em- ployer. The industry's risk cate- gory controls the minimum and maximum rates that an employ- er can pay. Currently, the range between the risk category up- per and lower boundaries is the same regardless of an employer's size. Under the new model, the size of the range will vary de- pending on an employer's size. The board will allow the rates for large employers to move higher and lower than the rates for small or medium employers. •The board will cap annual rate changes at 15 per cent up- ward or downward, reducing rate volatility. Currently, the rate can move upwards quickly with poor claims experience (30, 40, or 50 per cent) and move down much more slowly with improv- ing experience. •An employer's claims experi- ence will include three years of costs for claims incurred over the last three years instead of the current system, which is based on 12 months of costs for claims incurred in the last five years. •The board will implement more risk categories and allow employers to move more fre- quently among them as their experience changes. The board says it will implement clear cri- teria for moving from one cate- gory to another and will monitor them to ensure they reflect real changes in underlying risk. "We recognize that there are differences among small, me- dium and large employers, and we want to be responsive to their unique circumstances," Maharaj said. "Overall, the changes we're making will lead to a system that is less aggressive and more in line with the rest of Canada." Ahead of the new model, the board is introducing some changes to the current model for 2016, including beginning to re- duce risk category ranges. For all employers, the board will reduce the upper boundary from 200 per cent to 120 per cent above the category average. For small and medium em- ployers, the WCB will change the lower boundary in 2016 from 40 per cent to 30 per cent below the category average. In 2017, it will revise it again to 20 per cent. The board also says it will cap rate changes, whether upwards or downwards, at 15 per cent in 2016; however, it notes that due to other factors in the current rate model, some employers might still see their rates change by more than 15 per cent in 2016 and 2017. Nunavut Minimum wage going up The Nunavut government plans to raise the territory's minimum wage rate next spring. Effec- tive Apr. 1, 2016, the govern- ment says it will increase the minimum wage rate from $11 an hour to $13. Prince Edward Island WCB to eliminate wait period for benefi ts Prince Edward Island's Workers Compensation Board (WCB) says it will eliminate a two-day waiting period that injured workers must serve before it pays them benefits. If required legislative amend- ments are passed in time, the change will take effect Jan. 1, 2016. "The WCB is now in a healthy financial position, making it an ideal time to offer these addi- tional benefits to workers," said WCB CEO Luanne Gallant . The board implemented a waiting period in 2002 in an ef- fort to help it become fully fund- ed, which it is required to do to pay for past, present and future claims for injured workers. The waiting period was initially three days. The board reduced it to two days in 2014. Delegates take part in the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in April. Credit: Chris Wattie/Reuters

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