Canadian Payroll Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 CPR | February 2017 Legislative Roundup PM #40065782 handle administration/manage- ment payroll, including in situa- tions involving payments to af- filiated firms not registered with WorkSafeBC. WorkSafeBC says the re- vamped policy, available on its website, should help employers better understand how it deter- mines which earnings and pay- ments must be included when calculating assessable payroll. Newfoundland and Labrador Province increases compassionate care leave to 28 weeks Eligible employees in New- foundland and Labrador are now entitled to take up to 28 weeks off work, without pay, for a compassionate care leave. Amendments to the Labour Standards Act that took effect on Dec. 14 increase the maxi- mum amount of leave from eight weeks to 28 weeks. They also change the period in which em- ployees must take the leave from 26 weeks to 52 weeks. Employees covered under the act may take a compassionate care leave if they have been em- ployed by their employer for at least 30 days and have a medical certificate verifying the need for the leave. Ontario Emergency leave provisions added to auto regulations Beginning Jan. 1, modified rules for personal emergency leave apply to employees in the prov- ince's automobile industry. The Labour Ministry has amended Ontario Regulation 502/06, Terms and Conditions of Employment in Defined Indus- tries — Automobile Manufac- turing, Automobile Parts Manu- facturing, Automobile Parts Warehousing and Automobile Marshalling to specify that em- ployees may take up to seven days off work each year, without pay, for a personal illness, injury or medical emergency or for an ill- ness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter affecting family members. They may also take up to three days off work, without pay, if a family member dies. Family members include a wide vari- ety of relationships, such as the employee's spouse, parents, children, grandparents, and sib- lings, as well as any relative who depends on the employee for care or assistance. The Employment Standards Act, 2000 allows employees to take up to 10 days off work each year, without pay, for a personal illness, injury or med- ical emergency or for an urgent matter, illness, injury or medi- cal emergency affecting a fam- ily member. The provisions only apply to employees working for employ- ers who regularly employ at least 50 workers. New EHT rules for registered charities On Jan. 1, Ontario's Finance Ministry implemented new rules for claiming an exemption under its Employer Health Tax (EHT) for eligible employers who are registered charities. Registered charities with more than one qualifying cam- pus may now claim one exemp- tion for each campus. Previous- ly, the ministry allowed charities to claim multiple exemptions at one qualifying location. Under EHT law, eligible em- ployers, including charities registered under the federal In- come Tax Act, may claim an ex- emption from the tax on the first $450,000 of their total Ontario payroll. The exemption does not apply to employers whose pay- roll exceeds $5 million; however, registered charities are not sub- ject to the $5-million threshold. The new rules define a campus as including all of a registered charity's locations that are in one building, on one parcel of land or on contiguous properties. from WORKSAFEBC on page 1 Every two weeks Canadian HR Reporter hits the desks of HR management decision-makers across Canada. Human resources professionals are under pressure to drive performance, increase productivity and streamline processes. By providing real-world solutions to perplexing HR situations, we give you the tools and information to make more calculated decisions. Professional advice on the latest trends and insights for HR representatives help to sustain business, simplify hiring processes, and ensure budgets are met. STAY CURRENT. GET AHEAD. STAY AHEAD. To order your subscription call 1.800.387.5164 | 416.609.3800 www.hrreporter.com/subscribe PM40065782 RO9496 September 5, 2016 INSIDE FIGHTING FRAUD Insurance fraud prevention requires a joint approach between plan sponsors and insurers CCHRA partners up Agreements with SHRM, CERC formalize relationships page 2 Pink hair Starbucks' relaxed dress code part of growing trend page 3 Mental health More integrated approach needed to help people page 13 page 15 ENFORCEMENT > pg. 8 Pokemon GO presents challenges for employers But risks can be managed eff ectively: Experts BY LIZ BERNIER POKEMON GO, the mobile game that's sweeping smartphones of the nation, has seen a meteoric rise in popularity. And just as the game has blurred boundaries be- tween public and private space, it has also blurred boundaries be- tween work and play. Many employees are taking the mobile game — among oth- ers — to work with them, and that has the potential to create issues for employers, according to Erin Kuzz, founding member of law fi rm Sherrard Kuzz in Toronto. Chief among the risks are safety and security concerns, and pro- ductivity challenges, he said. "When I turn my mind to the workplace issues that are raised by Pokemon Go and some of these related apps and games, two things are particularly glaring," said Kuzz. "Number one is the security is- sues where people are download- ing any kind of app or external game onto their phone, and that could be a phone that is used for work purposes — whether it's an employer-owned device or a BYOD (bring-your-own device) that's been approved for use in the workplace — it creates security issues." With Pokemon Go, there are counterfeit or non-genuine ver- sions that have been found to con- tain malware, she said. "When you have employees po- tentially exposing the employer's system to malware… it's an issue," she said. "Employers have to think about how they want to tackle this very quickly. "My advice would be to prohibit use of anything like that on a work device — because you just can't control what happens if someone downloads malware." Many of the risks are around cyber security, said Leah Fochuk, consulting services manager at HR consulting fi rm Salopek & Associ- ates in Calgary. "Because you sign up through Google, the app is really capturing a lot of sensitive data," she said. Companies that use BYOD of- ten deal in sensitive or confi dential information and defi nitely need to be aware of those risks. "Even when you're downloading it, if people are downloading the app not from offi cial vendors, the risk of introducing malware could potentially aff ect your entire net- work," said Fochuk. "On the IT side, there are some pretty big risks that would need to be managed." Also, there are potential safety hazards when it comes to distrac- tion or trespassing. "Players are practising distract- ed walking: eir heads are down, they're not necessarily seeing where they're going," said Fochuk. "As a company, you would hate to have something happen on your Ontario looking to make changes to labour laws Card-based certifi cation, precarious work, better enforcement among concerns BY JOHN DUJAY IN a massive undertaking, the On- tario government is looking to up- date not one but two labour laws with its Changing Workplaces Review. First proposed in 2015, the re- view would see the province's 1995 Labour Relations Act and 2000 Em- ployment Standards Act updated. "It's important our laws refl ect the realities of the modern econ- omy, and that's why we're consult- ing with people in communities across the province and reviewing our legislation," said Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn. Led by lawyer Michael Mitchell and former justice of the Ontario Superior Court John Murray, the review received more than 300 written submissions and met with various labour and employer groups. e co-chairs released an interim report in July. e 312-page report touches on a variety of issues relevant to em- ployers and labour groups. e Ontario Federation of La- bour (OFL) has been waiting quite some time for the changes, said OFL president Chris Buckley. "It's a springboard for a once-in- a-generation opportunity to bring sweeping changes to Ontario's employment laws and to make it fair for every worker across the province." If the exercise was to poke at as many of the issues as possible, it's achieved that goal, said labour and employment lawyer Craig Rix at Hicks Morley in Toronto. "What I see mostly in the re- port is a longstanding list of like- to-have proposals that have largely come from organized labour." Slap on the wrist for TTC's social media account Greater care needed: Arbitrator BY SARAH DOBSON THE Toronto Transit Commis- sion (TTC) found itself in hot water recently when an arbitrator ruled one of its Twitter accounts contributed to the harassment of employees and needed to be changed — but not shut down. In his decision, arbitrator Rob- ert Howe said social media sites operated by the TTC could be considered to constitute part of the workplace. And a number of the tweets on @TTChelps consti- tute harassment. "It is clear from the totality of the evidence that the TTC has failed to take all reasonable and practical measures to protect bar- gaining unit employees from that type of harassment by members of FIXED > pg. 6 INAPPROPRIATE > pg. 10 Pavlo Farmakidis (left), recruitment co-ordinator at Woodbine Entertainment Group in Toronto, and Mark Diker, senior manager of recruitment and talent planning, ran a job fair using Pokemon Go that attracted about 500 candidates. See page 18. Subscribe Today! CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-387-5164 ONLINE AT www.employmentlawtoday.com/subscribe Emplo y ment Law Today Canad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com Subscribe today for only $175 Order No. 20610-17

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