Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 3, 2017 NEWS 7 Involved in HCM? Payroll Knowledge Gives You an Edge You, your HR team, and your organization can benefit from the Canadian Payroll Association's resources and seminars. Learn more at payroll.ca Should robots be taxed? Rise of AI 'potential game-changer' that could destabilize jobs, society: Labour lawyer BY MARCEL VANDER WIER FOR better or for worse, the age of working robots is upon us. But are employers and govern- ment giving the transformation enough consideration? Bill Gates doesn't think so. In February, the founder of Microsoft said global governments should look at tax- ing companies' use of robots to help fund the retraining efforts of workers put out of a job. "Right now, if a human worker does... $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, you'd think that we'd tax the robot at a similar level," he said in an interview with Quartz. Also in February, European lawmakers called for legislation across the European Union to reg- ulate the rise of robots, including an ethical framework for their de- velopment and deployment and the establishment of liability for the actions of robots such as self- driving cars, according to Reuters. But they rejected a proposal to impose a robot tax on owners to fund support for, or retraining of, workers put out of a job by robots. Considering the consequences e rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots able to think like humans is a potential game- changer that could destabilize jobs and even society as a whole, according to James Froud, a U.K. labour lawyer at Bird and Bird in London. "We simply don't know what the shape of that world looks like," he said. "In a worst-case scenario, it's mass unemployment with people wallowing around with skills that they can't do anything with. To my mind, that's not a good thing unless Bill Gates' sug- gestion of taxing the robots and giving everyone a happy life is the way we're going." "I don't see why it should just be a given that sticking robots in (hu- man) roles equals the best thing that we as a society could do," he said. "Everyone just assumes this is going to happen; there's kind of an inevitability (to it). I do wonder whether anyone's stopped to think properly about what the potential consequences of that could be." It's definitely time to start chal- lenging the assumptions and look- ing at whether it makes sense in every capacity to just assume that removing whole sectors of human jobs is a good thing and definitely going to lead to greater productiv- ity and efficiency, said Froud. "I'm not sure it always does." Government involvement will be directed by the wants of wider society, he said. And rules that narrow the definition of redun- dancy for dismissing employees, assign legal personalities to ro- bots, and regulate the process in which robots may be brought into the workplace could all receive consideration from lawmakers in the near future. Policymakers fear that an over- reliance on robots could have unintended consequences on society, said Nayeem Syed, assis- tant general counsel for omson Reuters in London, who recently wrote a blog on driverless cars. "e legal theories to address responsibility will occupy law- yers, but clarifying liability fails to address or prevent the actual and irreversible physical or financial harm to the entirely innocent," he said. "That remains a data management and engineering challenge." "What is instructive and en- couraging is the way policymakers have approached autonomous ve- hicle technologies which address a $1.7-trillion global industry," said Syed. "ey have, collective- ly, taken a calm, pragmatic ap- proach engaging early and deeply manufacturers, insurers and law enforcement." In turn, that has granted the self-driving vehicle industry lead- ers sufficient notice to make in- vestment and risk-planning deci- sions, he said. Ahead of any legislative chang- es, however, technology contin- ues to rapidly create new working models, resulting in employer challenges that have not yet been fully thought through, including a gig economy where many work- ers do not benefit from traditional employment rights, said Froud. "e shape of the new-world working environment is some- thing that we really need to start thinking about," he said. "We al- ready ought to be giving proper thought to it, albeit there's obvi- ously a limitation to how far one can go with something that still feels somewhat nebulous." What should employers do? Employers need to assess where automation makes sense within their business model, and then determine the future state of an optimal workforce, said Syed. "A reasonable start is well- thought-through strategies on corporate culture, followed through with effective training programs and meaningful inno- vation engagement," he said. "Change is constant. It is driven by competitive forces but tem- pered by regulation and govern- ment policies. Some jobs will go and not come back, and new jobs will be developed. If workers re- main curious and are supported, they can use their domain knowl- edge and apply themselves to evo- lutionary change." Automation could claim be- tween 1.5 million and 7.5 million Canadian jobs over the next 10 years, according to Working With- out a Net, a study released in No- vember 2016 by the Mowat Cen- tre, a Toronto-based think tank. Losing even one million jobs to automation within a short time period would push Canada's un- employment rate to 12 per cent at a time when the federal govern- ment is still attempting to "clean up" after the "devastating" 2008 recession, said Jordann irgood, a Mowat Centre policy associate. Without the right approach, Canada could find itself in a long- term period of economic stagna- tion, she said. Corporations need to take the lead in terms of antici- pating future labour market shifts and retraining workers, while the federal government also has a role PREDICT > pg. 17 In business, the term human capital management (HCM) refers to how an organization manages its employees (its human capital) to deliver value or return on investment to the organization. The term HCM has been prominent in the human resource profession for many years as organizations have increased their attention on the value delivered by employees. This increased attention has also produced a trend towards HCM technology— software and systems designed to support employee performance on the job. HCM technology combines components of payroll and human resource management such as tracking of benefits, vacation, and time and attendance, as well as employee performance management. As the role and scope of the integrated payroll function grows to include even more cross-functional responsibilities, many organizations turn to payroll and human resource professionals to implement and manage HCM technology solutions to achieve the best results. If your organization is using HCM technology or contemplating adopting an HCM solution, consider this: Payroll can be the great integrator for these technology projects, overseeing payroll compliance, providing integrated insights from payroll, accounting and human resources, and delivering a combination of technical and soft skills required by employers. Payroll knowledge is essential when overseeing HCM technology projects and it is invaluable in all HR areas. HR professionals with payroll knowledge rise above the rest, providing themselves, their organization, and their employees with unparalleled knowledge and support. Membership with the Canadian Payroll Association provides support to payroll and human resource professionals through compliance resources and programs covering topics including special payments, labour standards, pensions and benefits and more. Many HR professionals, and others, choose to obtain their Payroll Compliance Practitioner certification through the Canadian Payroll Association. Payroll certification gives you the gold standard in payroll knowledge, enabling you to broaden your skillset, enhance support for your employer and advance your career. Visit payroll.ca for more information. Payroll: The Great Integrator for Your Technology Projects ADVERTISING FEATURE THE CANADIAN PAYROLL ASSOCIATION

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