Canadian Payroll Reporter

4 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 News in Brief A look at news, facts and figures shaping the world of payroll professionals PM #40065782 News in Brief A look at news, facts and figures shaping the world of payroll professionals Most workers not taking full vacation time: Survey › TORONTO — Only one in three Canadian work- ers takes all of his allotted vacation time each year and 28 per cent take less than half of it, according to an ADP survey. The survey also found that men are more likely than women to take their full vacation. Thirty- seven per cent of men take all of their vacation days, compared to 31 per cent of women, the survey said. In addition, 69 per cent of men take more than half of their vacation days, while only 55 per cent of women do so. The survey also found that many Canadians say they have to do a substantial amount of extra work before and after they take a one-week vacation. Seventy-one per cent of respondents reported having to work an average of 11.4 additional hours to prepare for the time off and to catch up after returning to work. However, the amount of extra work reported is lower than the 21 hours cited in last year's survey. "It can be exhausting to prepare for a vacation, both personally and professionally," said David Heather, vice-president of people and human resources at ADP Canada. "It's encouraging to see people working fewer extra hours to prepare for a break from work." "This year, we have seen an emerging trend of companies adopting more flexible vacation policies. Many are moving away from a 'one- size-fits-all' approach to more personalization. This includes a small number of employers offering unlimited vacation or the ability to 'flex' your own holiday entitlement," he said. Employers have an obligation to make sure that their workers take their vacations and that they should take steps to see that they do so, said Heather. "Organizations can create a more positive outlook on vacation among employees by communicating vacation policies proactively, encouraging staff to book time off and leading by example." Other highlights from the survey: • Women are slightly more likely than men to say they will do extra work to prepare for vacation (74 per cent vs. 72 per cent) yet men report ac- tually needing more time (12.6 hours vs. 10.5 hours). • Workers aged 35 to 44 say they need the most amount of time before and/or after a vacation to get caught up, averaging 13.75 hours in extra time. • Workers in Quebec work the least around a vaca- tion at 10.48 hours, compared to 12.97 hours for Western Canadians, who work the most hours. • Western and Eastern Canadians are the most likely to take all of their vacation. The survey results are based on a poll of 1,000 working Canadians, conducted over a one-week period in December. Government releases social security review › OTTAWA — The federal government should make its Social Security Tribunal (SST) more cli- ent focused, a new report recommends. The report is based on a review of the SST that professional services firm KPMG carried out for Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) last year. Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of Families, Children and Social Development, released the report in January. The SST is a quasi-judicial body that makes decisions on appeals related to Canada Pension Plan (CPP), employment insurance (EI) and Old Age Security (OAS) benefits. The previous government created the SST five years ago to replace a number of appeals and tribunal bodies, including the EI Boards of Referees, the EI Umpire, the CPP and OAS Review Tribunals, and the Pensions Appeals Board. The current government hired KPMG last year to conduct the review in response to concerns that the SST is too complex, time-consuming and bogged down in legal jargon for average Canadians needing to use it. The report made seven recommendations to improve the tribunal, covering issues such as the need for a client-focused culture, a less- complex appeals system, and more clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the SST, ESDC and the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada. To make the board more client-focused, the report suggested options such as implementing a "tell us once" system that would not require clients to provide the SST with information that the government already has about their case. It also recommended that ESDC consider changing the language the SST uses in its decisions to make it less legalistic and to better explain how it uses the laws and facts to make its decisions. In addition, the report said ESDC should change the way it recruits and trains SST members "to emphasize both lived and specialized experience and greater client- orientation." In response to the report, Duclos said he would study all of the recommendations, as well as consider other options "to ensure we achieve the overarching objective of providing a system which is accountable and meets the needs of Canadians." He added that he would release an action plan in the coming months that incorporates the views of SST stakeholders. Auto rates announced › OTTAWA — The government-prescribed rate used to calculate the taxable benefit for an em- ployee's personal use of an employer-provided automobile is 26 cents per kilometre for 2018, one cent higher than 2017, the federal Finance Department recently announced. The rate for employees whose principal job is to sell or lease automobiles is 23 cents per kilometre, up from 22 cents last year. The deduction limits for tax-exempt allowances employers pay to employees who use their personal vehicle for business purposes are also one cent higher than they were in 2017. The limit is 55 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres and 49 cents per kilometre for each additional kilometre. For the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the limit is 59 cents for the first 5,000 kilometres driven and 53 cents for each additional kilometre. CRA announces ceilings for housing benefits › OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced the 2018 ceilings for housing benefits that employers provide to employees in prescribed zones without a developed rental market. The changes reflect an increase in the shelter portion of the consumer price index. For 2018, employers should use the following allowable ceiling amounts to determine the maximum value of housing benefits for employees in prescribed zones without a developed rental market: For common shelter: $195/month ($191 in 2017) For an apartment or duplex: $525/month for rent only ($515 in 2017) $255/month for utilities only ($250 in 2017) $780/month for rent and utilities ($765 in 2017) For a house or trailer: $878/month for rent only ($862 in 2017) $388/month for utilities only ($381 in 2017) $1,266/month for rent and utilities ($1,243 in 2017) The CRA publishes a list of communities that qualify as prescribed zones on its website. Average weekly earnings unchanged in October › OTTAWA — Average weekly earnings of non- farm payroll employees were $983.00 in Octo- ber, virtually unchanged from $983.99 in Sep- tember, Statistics Canada reports. The agency revised the September amount from the previ- ously reported $985.95. On a year-over-year basis, weekly earnings were up 3.1 per cent from October 2016. Changes in weekly earnings reflect a number of factors, including wage growth, changes in the composition of employment by industry, occupation and level of job experience, as well as average hours worked per week.

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