Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 March 7, 2018 Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) in Montreal. "at first year is a very precious time for parents to spend with their children." Employers would be wise to make arrangements for the new leave in their policies as soon as possible, said Andrew Tsoi-A-Sue, principal for Eckler, a benefits consultant company in Toronto. "I don't see it as a massive impact to most employers," he said. "ey just need to make sure their leave policies are compliant." "is new benefit has to be a sharing benefit — that's the key. If you really think about what the impact will be, it'll just be a higher possibility of one-half of a couple taking an additional five weeks." While CUPE welcomed the move, the union also wished it had pushed slightly further, said Pasma. "We're happy that there's the additional weeks, but the way that it's put forward right now, it just replicates the existing inequities in the employment insurance system." As it stands, not enough people will have access to the benefit, as the low wage replacement too often makes it an unaffordable option, she said. CUPE would have preferred the federal government followed Quebec's framework, which has a lower eligibility threshold for parental leave benefits, combined with a higher benefit replacement rate, said Pasma. Pharmacare, benefits e federal government is also creating an advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare, which will recommend options on how best to move forward "to en- sure every Canadian has access to the medicine they need." Adopting a national program would have significant cost implications for employers offering prescription drug benefits, said Tsoi-A-Sue, as privately sponsored employer plans' overall spend on drug claims would likely be significantly reduced. "It's, potentially, quite a major savings to the employer benefit costs for a private plan," he said. "We're guardedly optimistic or excited about this." However, costs to pay for the program will mean increases to other government revenue-generation streams, said Tsoi-A-Sue. "It's not going to be simply savings, it will be savings offset by increased costs." Additionally, the federal government is targeting low-income workers through a rebranded benefit, now known as the Canada Workers Benefit — meant to expand eligibility for workers earning at or below the poverty line, and allowing them to take home more money while they work. e measure is an improvement for the program, previously known as the Working Income Tax Benefit, said Pasma. "It's never lived up to its promise as a tool for increasing the incomes of low-income workers." e budget also expressed a commitment to help workers in times of change by building on the Innovation and Skills Plan. is would involve increased funding and consolidating business innovation programs to make them easier to navigate and more responsive to the challenges and opportunities businesses face "today and in the future." e government also said it will propose legislative amendments to the Wage Earner Protection Program Act to increase the maximum payment to seven weeks of employment insurance insurable earnings from four. Changes will also be made to make eligibility for the program more equitable, so workers who are owed wages, vacation, severance or termination pay when their employer files for bankruptcy or enters receivership receive greater support. Questions remain e free-spending budget came with a price, however — an $18.1-billion deficit. "If budgets aren't balanced, they're going to have to either cut spending or raise taxes down the line," said Snider. "Right now, we're in the middle of good times, economically speaking, so what happens when there's a slowdown and we run into problems?" Overspending on social programming could reduce the country's ability to react to changes in the economy, domestically or abroad, he said. Overall, the budget left employers searching for answers to important big-picture questions, said Snider. "What's the strategy to come out of deficit? What's the strategy for competitiveness?" he said. "e government really needs to step up and do a better job of answering some of those questions." "e disappointment we have is there hasn't been that attempt to step back and look at the overall picture of: What is the total burden, the total cost of doing business? Where are the areas we can find efficiencies, simplify? Where can we help Canadian businesses operate a little more efficiently?" We've been waiting a long time to see a commitment. But we have to wait for the legislation to see the details." ON THE COVER Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivering the budget in Ottawa on Feb. 27. A national pharmacare program would represent "quite a major savings to the employer benefit costs for a private plan," according to Andrew Tsoi-A-Sue of Eckler. Credit: REUTERS/Mark Blinch

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