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Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016
Sharing work to save jobs
Service Canada's Work-Sharing Program
can help employers, employees in tough economic times
BY SHEILA BRAWN
News CPR
|
April 2016
see TAX page 8
BOMBARDIER. HUSKY Ener-
gy. Chevron. Bell Media. These
are just some of the companies in
the news recently for announc-
ing layoffs. In recent months,
it seems hardly a week goes by
when there is not news of an em-
ployer cutting back on staff.
It's not just big employers.
Small and medium-size compa-
nies also struggle with layoff de-
cisions. Some cut the workforce
while others try to keep all em-
ployees working.
One option for avoiding lay-
offs is the federal government's
Work-Sharing Program. It en-
ables employers to temporarily
cut back on the number of hours
employees work. Employees
share available work while re-
ceiving employment insurance
(EI) benefits for days they are
not working. It helps employers
keep skilled workers, saving the
cost of having to hire and train
new employees when business
picks up again.
While payroll professionals
may not be the ones who decide
whether their employer applies
to the program, knowing how it
works is important because pay-
roll departments will likely have
to help administer a work-shar-
ing agreement if their employer's
application is accepted.
The program, which Service
Canada runs, has been in place
since the early 1980s. Participa-
tion tends to rise and fall with the
state of the economy.
In 2014-15, the most recent
fiscal year for which statistics are
available, Service Canada says
411 work-sharing agreements
were started, down from 649 the
previous year. While the number
of agreements has dropped sig-
nificantly from a peak of 7,717 in
2009-10, it remains higher than
it was before the 2008 recession.
It is not yet known if the numbers
will rise, fall or remain steady for
the just-ended fiscal year.
The provinces that accounted
for the most work-sharing agree-
ments in 2014-15 were Quebec
(42 per cent), Ontario (33 per
cent) and British Columbia (10
per cent). Alberta businesses
have tended to use the program
much less. In 2013-14, for ex-
ample, only 21 agreements were
launched in Alberta, but that
could change with the ongoing
slowdown in the energy sector.
Employers interested in the
program have to complete a de-
tailed application form describ-
ing their business, explaining the
reason for their lack of work and
setting out how many of their
employees would be included in
a work-sharing agreement, how
long it would last and the num-
ber of hours or days affected em-
ployees would work each week.
Employers that take part in
the program must reduce em-
ployees' regular work hours by
between 10 per cent (a half day)
and 60 per cent (three days). In
any week, the reduction in hours
can vary as long as it averages be-
tween 10 and 60 per cent.
The agreements must last for
at least six weeks. The maximum
