Canadian Payroll Reporter - sample

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016 CPR | September 2016 Legislative Roundup election promise to raise the gen- eral minimum wage rate to $15 an hour by 2018. To achieve this, she says the government will increase the rate to $13.60 on Oct. 1, 2017, and to $15 on Oct. 1, 2018. The rates that apply for salespersons and domestic employees will in- crease by equivalent amounts. British Columbia Reminder: Minimum wage increasing Sept. 15 The British Columbia govern- ment will raise the province's general minimum wage rate from $10.45 an hour to $10.85 on Sept. 15. The rate hike will include a 10- cent increase, based on British Columbia's 2015 consumer price index (CPI), as well as an extra 30 cents to account for economic growth in the province. The minimum wage rate for liquor servers will increase from $9.20 an hour to $9.60. The gov- ernment will also raise the daily rate for live-in home-support workers and live-in camp lead- ers, as well as the monthly rates for resident caretakers and the farm-worker piece rates pro- portionate to the general mini- mum hourly wage increases. Shirley Bond, minister for jobs, tourism and skills train- ing, says the government also plans to raise rates next year to take into account the province's CPI and economic growth. On Sept. 15, 2017, she esti- mates the general minimum wage rate will rise to $11.25 an hour and the rate for liquor serv- ers will increase to $10 an hour. Ontario Government confirms plans to scrap ORPP Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa has confirmed that this fall the provincial gov- ernment will repeal legislation to implement a mandatory pro- vincial pension plan. Over the past two years, the government has tabled and passed laws to allow the prov- ince to create the Ontario Re- tirement Pension Plan (ORPP). Contributions to the plan were to be mandatory for employees aged 18 to 70 who are employed in Ontario and who do not take part in a workplace pension plan that is comparable to the ORPP, as well as their employer. The government announced earlier this year that it would begin enrolling employers in the ORPP next year and would phase in employer and employee contributions beginning in 2018. With the federal government and all provinces but Quebec recently agreeing to enhance the Canada Pension Plan, Sousa said the Ontario government would stop the administrative work be- ing done to create the ORPP and would introduce legislation to repeal ORPP laws when the leg- islature resumes sitting this fall. Reminder: Minimum wage rates goes up Oct. 1 The general minimum wage rate in Ontario will rise from $11.25 an hour to $11.40 on Oct. 1. Other minimum wage rates in the province will also go up. The rate for students who are under 18 and who work fewer than 28 hours a week (or more than 28 hours during school va- cation) will go up from $10.55 an hour to $10.70. The rate for liquor servers will rise from $9.80 an hour to $9.90. The minimum wage rate paid to homeworkers will increase from $12.40 an hour to $12.55. The minimum wage rate for hunting and fishing guides will also increase. The rate for guides who work fewer than five consecutive hours in a day will increase from $56.30 to $56.95. The rate for guides who work five or more hours in a day, whether or not the hours are consecutive, will rise from $112.60 to $113.95. Prince Edward Island Reminder: Minimum wage rate going up The minimum wage rate in Prince Edward Island will rise from $10.75 an hour to $11 on Oct. 1. It is the second minimum wage increase this year. On Jun. 1, the government raised the rate to $10.75 from $10.50. The Department of Justice and Public Safety says about 9.3 per cent of P.E.I. workers are paid at the minimum wage rate. Reminder: HST rate rising Oct. 1 Beginning Oct. 1, the rate for the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) that applies in Prince Edward Is- land will rise from 14 per cent to 15 per cent. The rate change will affect the value of taxable benefits that employers provide to employees that are subject to the HST. The provincial government announced earlier this year that it would raise the provincial por- tion of the tax from nine per cent to 10 per cent, increasing the overall HST rate to 15 per cent. With the change, the HST rate in all four Atlantic Provinces will be the same. Saskatchewan Reminder: Minimum wage rate going up The minimum wage rate in Sas- katchewan will rise from $10.50 an hour to $10.72 on Oct. 1. Under Saskatchewan law, the government uses annual changes to the province's consumer price index and average hourly wage to set the minimum wage rate. from FEDERAL on page 1 everyone invested in the suc- cess of the project. •Plan for change management, organize information sessions and share updates on the proj- ect regularly so everyone feels in the know. •Create a training plan so your team knows how to use their new tools and to ensure they get the most out of the new solution. Have a well-defined project plan. Taking the time to create a project plan will establish the foundation for your new payroll technology and will keep your implementation on track, on budget and allow for appropri- ate resource planning. •Take into consideration when an implementation of a new payroll best works for your organization. When adding payroll implementation test- ing and training to the regular day-to-day duties, determine if you will require extra help during that time or if you will need to ask in advance for overtime approval. And take into account statutory holi- days, special events, vacations or planned leaves. •Share responsibilities by creat- ing a list of tasks, due dates, and who or what team is re- sponsible for the deliverables. This useful tool will keep ev- eryone on task. Great communication is es- sential. This applies not only between the project leads and the vendor, but also with all de- partment heads, managers and employees. Even if they are not involved in the actual project yet, giving them lead time to prepare for the change will al- low them to embrace it and be sure they have answers to all their questions before the new solution goes live. Payroll is about more than just processing a pay run. It is an investment in people. The suc- cess of a new payroll technology implementation relies on how well an organization positions its people to help achieve the goals set out for the new solu- tion. The efficiencies and pro- cesses that will help employees work smarter not harder can only become a reality if they un- derstand how their participa- tion will contribute to a better workplace. Kim Groome is an implementation specialist at Avanti Software, a Canadian company that helps organizations manage their HR, payroll and time and attendance with an all- in-one solution. from page 6

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