Canadian Payroll Reporter

4 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 PM #40065782 News in Brief A look at news, facts and figures shaping the world of payroll professionals Fewer Canadians covered by registered pension plans: Data › OTTAWA — The proportion of employees in Canada covered by a registered pension plan (RPP) dropped below 38 per cent in 2015, re- cently released Statistics Canada data shows. The data, from a Pension Plans in Canada Survey as of Jan. 1, 2016, shows that 37.8 per cent of all employees in Canada were covered by an RPP in 2015, down from 38.1 per cent in 2014. The survey also found that while overall membership in RPPs increased between 2014 and 2015 to about 6.262 million people, the growth came from public-sector rather than private-sector plans. Public-sector RPPs grew by 16,500 to just over 3.2 million members, while membership in private-sector plans decreased by 11,600 to just over three million. The most common type of RPP was a defined benefit plan, which accounted for 67.1 per cent of all RPP memberships in 2015. However, the rate was down from 70 per cent in 2014 and from over 90 per cent in the 1980s, according to Statistics Canada. Defined contribution plans were the second most popular, accounting for 18 per cent of all RPP membership in Canada. Membership in defined contribution plans, found mostly in the private sector, grew 2.8 per cent between 2014 and 2015, said Statistics Canada. Other types of plans, including hybrid, composite and combined defined benefit/ defined contribution, grew by 19.3 per cent to account for almost 15 per cent of all RPP memberships in 2015. "There are now 930,000 people belonging to plans not classified as the conventional defined benefit or defined contribution models," the Statistics Canada report said. "Membership in these other plan types has more than quadrupled in the past decade." The survey also found that the gender split in the plans was getting closer to being equal in 2015, with men accounting for approximately 50.2 per cent of members and women 49.8 per cent. Women made up 63.1 per cent of plan members in public-sector plans and 35.7 per cent in private-sector plans in 2015. The total amount employers and employees contributed to RPPs was $67.2 billion in 2015, up 5.9 per cent from the year before, said Statistics Canada. Employer contributions for unfunded liabilities accounted for $11.4 billion of the total contributed. "When payments for unfunded liabilities are excluded, employers contributed 60 per cent of the total, while employee contributions accounted for the remaining 40 per cent," said the report. 10 charged in alleged benefits fraud at TTC › TORONTO — Ten people are facing criminal charges in connection with an alleged benefits fraud scheme at the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), Canada's largest transit system, the com- pany recently announced. The charges are part of an ongoing investigation that has seen 150 employees fired, retired, or resign to avoid dismissal, the commission said in a news release. Nine of those charged are former TTC employees and one is a current employee on medical leave. The commission said it expects more dismissals as it continues to investigate. The TTC began the investigation three years ago after a tip to its hotline for suspected employee misconduct alleged that a health-care products and service provider called Healthy Fit was providing fraudulent receipts to employees so that they could claim health-care expenses. The TTC said the company provided receipts when no products or services were purchased or with the amounts purchased inflated. The tip also alleged that Healthy Fit and the employee making improper claims would share the money paid out by TTC's insurer at the time, Manulife Financial. TTC investigators informed Manulife and police of their findings, and in July 2015, criminal charges were laid against the owner of Healthy Fit. The TTC said its investigators continue to interview employees as part of its own investigation, separate from the police probe. Where the TTC finds evidence that an employee billed its benefits plan inappropriately, the commission said the employee will face dismissal. The TTC said last year it saw its benefits claims costs go down by almost $5 million over the year previous, reflecting the commission's "continued success in bringing an end to improper benefits claims or outright fraud." National Payroll Week celebrates profession › TORONTO — The Canadian Payroll Association (CPA) is planning to host 26 breakfasts and lun- cheons across Canada from Sept. 11 to 15 to celebrate National Payroll Week (NPW). The association runs the event every year to celebrate payroll professionals for paying Canadian workers accurately and on time and to raise awareness of the profession outside of the payroll community. The breakfasts and luncheons include guest speakers and the results of the CPA's 2017 NPW research surveys. For information on attending an NPW event, including cost and location, refer to the CPA's NPW website at www.npw-snp.ca/en/. U.S. government requests feedback on overtime › WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States De- partment of Labor is asking for public feedback on how it should revise regulations governing overtime pay exemptions affecting "white-col- lar" workers. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, workers in the U.S. are entitled to overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their regular rate if they work more than 40 hours a week — unless regulations exempt them. Current regulations exempt salaried white- collar workers from overtime pay requirements if they earn at least $455 per week and their job primarily involves executive, administrative or professional duties defined in the regulations. Last year, the department announced it would increase the exemption threshold to $913 per week as of Dec. 1, 2016; however, a federal judge in Texas granted a nationwide injunction against the regulatory change, preventing the department from implementing it. With a change in government in Washington, the department now says it no longer supports the $913 threshold. Instead of proposing a new limit however, it is asking for public input by Sept. 25 on the salary exemption. It is also asking for feedback on whether "duties" tests should be imposed to determine how much non-management work a manger can do without being entitled to overtime pay and how the 2016 regulatory change would have affected employers. "The department is aware of stakeholder concerns that the standard salary level set in the 2016 Final Rule was too high," said the Department of Labor. "In particular, stakeholders have expressed concern that the new salary level inappropriately excludes from exemption too many workers who pass the standard duties test." The National Retail Federation, one of a number of business organizations challenging the legality of the 2016 regulatory amendment, said it welcomed the call for public input. "Retailers understand that overtime rules need to be updated occasionally, but the extreme changes pushed by the Obama administration were too sharp an increase for most businesses to absorb without negative consequences for both employers and employees," said David French, senior vice-president for government relations at the federation. However, the National Employment Law Project, a workers' rights group, called the announcement "a slap in the face" to workers. "Taking away overtime pay is no way to make America great again or benefit working people," said executive director Christine Owens. She added that the rule change was the result of more than two years of public consultations, with most public comments favouring the changes.

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