Canadian Payroll Reporter - sample

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 Legislative Roundup CPR | June 2017 option to receive paper T4s upon request. Despite the change, employ- ers would still have to provide an employee with two paper copies of the form if the employee re- quested it, if the employee could not reasonably be expected to have access to an electronic T4, or if at the time the employer is- sued the T4, the employee was on an extended leave or was no longer employed. Other amendments to the In- come Tax Act would eliminate a deduction for eligible home relocation loans in 2018 and replace the current caregiver credit, infirm dependant credit and family caregiver tax credit claimed on a federal TD1 with a new Canada caregiver credit beginning this year. The bill also proposes amend- ments to the Employment In- surance Act, including changes that would: • allow eligible EI claimants the option to receive parental ben- efits over a longer period (61 weeks versus 35 weeks) at a lower benefit rate (33 per cent versus 55 per cent) • allow maternity benefits to be paid as early as 12 weeks be- fore a claimant's expected due date, rather than the current eight weeks • create a new 15-week benefit for family members who care for a critically ill adult • expand eligibility for benefits for a critically ill child to in- clude other family members and not just parents. To align federal labour stan- dards with the EI changes, the bill proposes to amend the Can- ada Labour Code to: • increase the maximum length of parental leave from 37 weeks to 63 weeks • extend the period when an employee may take a paren- tal leave from 52 weeks to 78 weeks after a baby is born or a child comes into the actual care of the employee • extend the period for when a maternity leave may begin from 11 weeks to 13 weeks be- fore the estimated date of birth • create a new 17-week unpaid leave for family members to care for a critically ill adult re- quiring their care or support • allow employees to take time off work to care for a critical- ly ill child if they are a family member (not just the parents). The bill also proposes amend- ments to the Canada Labour Code's compliance and enforce- ment mechanism to help em- ployees recover unpaid wages more easily. New Brunswick Province creates February holiday Beginning next year, there will be a new statutory holiday in New Brunswick. The provincial legislature re- cently passed a bill that creates a new paid statutory holiday called Family Day under the Em- ployment Standards Act. The holiday will be celebrated on the third Monday in February every year, beginning in 2018. The day will also be a pre- scribed day of rest under the Days of Rest Act. The bill included amend- ments that affect entitlement to paid holidays for employees cov- ered by a collective agreement. Currently, employees work- ing under a collective agree- ment or employment contract that requires their employer to pay vacation and statutory holi- day benefits together, with the combined benefit equaling at least three per cent of wages, are exempt from paid statutory holi- day requirements. The bill will change the re- quirement to four per cent, be- ginning in 2018. The Employment Standards Act also exempts from statutory holiday requirements employees covered by a collective agree- ment that came into effect after July 16, 1976 if it provides for at least seven paid holidays, includ- ing New Brunswick Day. The bill will change the number of holi- days to eight. Gallant said the new holiday would put New Brunswick in line with other Canadian juris- dictions that provide a statu- tory holiday in February. Other provinces providing a version of the holiday include Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, On- tario, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. Province proposes ESA exemptions for amateur athletes New Brunswick's govern- ment is proposing regulatory amendments that would ex- empt amateur athletes playing on provincial teams from some provisions of its Employment Standards Act. Donald Arseneault, minister of post-secondary education, training and labour, said the amendments would exempt amateur athletes from vacation, statutory holiday, minimum wage, hours of work, weekly rest periods, and termination standards while they are en- gaged in activities related to their athletic endeavours. He did not say when the amendments would take effect. Review of workers' comp scheduled The New Brunswick govern- ment is examining the prov- ince's workers' compensation system. Donald Arseneault, minister of post-secondary education, training and labour, said the government is setting up a task force to review workers' com- pensation legislation and the overall objectives and effective- ness of the province's workers' compensation system. The task force will also ex- amine WorkSafeNB's current financial situation. Arseneault also announced that the government has asked the province's auditor general to audit WorkSafeNB to ensure it is administering programs in the most efficient way possible. The announcements come in response to employer concerns about rising premiums costs for workers' compensation cover- age in the province. Quebec Electronic RL-1 to become standard delivery method Employers with Quebec pay- rolls will soon be allowed to provide RL-1s to employees electronically as the standard method of delivery, the Quebec Finance Ministry announced. The ministry said it would amend provincial tax legislation and regulations to harmonize its rules for delivering RL-1s to employees with a recent federal proposal affecting T4s. In this year's federal budget, the government announced that it would allow employers to issue T4s to employees elec- tronically without first having to obtain their written consent, as long as certain conditions apply. The change would affect T4s issued for 2017 and later tax years. The Quebec Finance Min- istry also announced that it would eliminate a deduction that employees may claim for taxable home relocation loans that they receive from their employer. The federal government had previously announced that it would eliminate the federal de- duction for 2018 and later tax years. Yukon New statutory holiday in territory This month, Yukon will cel- ebrate a new statutory holiday called National Aboriginal Day. In May, the territorial legisla- ture passed Bill 2, the National Aboriginal Day Act. It amended the Employment Standards Act to add National Aboriginal Day as a holiday on June 21 every year, beginning this year. With the new holiday, Yukon joins the Northwest Territo- ries as the only other Canadian jurisdiction that has National Aboriginal Day as a statutory holiday. It's the first piece of legislation to be passed under the new Lib- eral government led by Premier Sandy Silver, according to the Canadian Press. Based on figures from Can- ada Day in 2016, the govern- ment said the holiday would cost them an estimated $1.28 million. The figure includes $1.16 million for payroll and an additional $116,700 in over- time pay for essential service providers. from FEDS on page 1

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