Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER APRIL 2018 FEATURES 25 COMPENSATION Ontario's Bill 148: Compliance concerns Employers that maintain minimum standards will see overall costs increasing By Lyndee Patterson R egulatory compliance is an exercise in due dili- gence. Whenever laws change, HR professionals must add impact analysis and project management to their core roles. With Ontario's introduction of Bill 148 in June 2017, this was particularly true: The legisla- tive amendments impacted both unionized and non-unionized operations. Areas of amendment include holidays, vacations, overtime and leaves. More changes are to follow on Jan. 1, 2019, including changes to scheduling, on-call and call-in pay rules. Bill 148 directly impacted the minimum protections off ered by employers. Although its most fa- mous provision is the increase in the minimum wage — to $14 as of Jan. 1, 2018, and $15 in 2019 — the changes are broader and in- clude holidays, vacations, leaves and scheduling. Employers — regardless of whether they adhere to the mini- mum standards or offer more generous benefits and flexible work arrangements — will need to evaluate the impacts of the changes brought forward by Bill 148. is includes reviewing hu- man capital management infra- structure, compensation struc- tures and workplace policies and procedures. Extended parental benefi ts Employees across Canada have the option to extend the period over which they receive their combined maternity and parental employee insurance (EI) benefi ts — from 12 months to 18 months. ere is a distinction between federal EI benefit entitlements and provincially determined job- protected leave periods. As of the date of publication, only employers that are feder- ally regulated or in Ontario and Alberta are required to off er eli- gible employees the option of 18 months of combined maternity and parental leave. New Bruns- wick proposed amendments on Feb. 2, 2018, (Bill 44) that would add that province to the list. e extended EI benefi ts are available to the parents of children born after Dec. 3, 2017. In provinces that don't off er the assurance of a job-protected leave, it's unclear whether the op- tion to receive 18 months of ben- efi ts will gain traction. Parents may, however, be more likely to share the time away from work and employees may request vol- untary leave to align with the benefi t. In provinces where the new leave period is a required op- tion, employers should modify or develop policies to appropriately set expectations. Business owners need to ex- amine current offerings and adapt them as needed. Specifi - cally, employers may need to ex- amine leave or EI top-up policies to ensure they are delivering pa- rental leave benefi ts at the level they intend. Minimum wage, holiday pay In Ontario, the minimum wage increase, removal of holiday pay proration, increased vacation en- titlement and broader application of the three-hour rule will bring greater protections, payouts and fl exibility to employees. Employers that maintain minimum standards in their operations will generally see an increase in overall costs due to vacation and holiday pay chang- es. Employers that offer more extensive benefi ts packages and fl exible work arrangements will notice a less signifi cant impact to the bottom line. Regardless of which category an employer falls into, a review of the requirements is recommended. Other key changes Mandating equal pay: Part-time, temporary and seasonal employ- ees who perform substantially the same job as full-time employ- ees will be entitled to be paid the same. And temporary help agen- cies that perform substantially the same job as employees at the cli- ent company will be entitled to be paid the same. Diff erences in rates of pay will be permitted where there is a se- niority, merit or production-re- lated system that assesses factors other than sex or employment status. Domestic/sexual violence leave: Employees can take up to 10 days and up to 15 weeks off when they or their child has ex- perienced or is threatened with domestic or sexual violence. e fi rst fi ve days of the leave are to be paid. Misclassifying employees as 'independent contractors': Em- ployers that improperly classify employees as independent con- tractors could face monetary pen- alties and prosecution. e onus is now on the employer to establish the status of the individual as an independent contractor. Stronger record-keeping obligations: In addition to existing requirements to track time and vacation, under the 2019 scheduling, on-call and call- in pay amendments, employers will also be required to keep records of: dates and times an employee was scheduled to work or be on-call; any changes made to the on-call schedule; dates and times an employee worked; and any cancellations of a scheduled day of work or scheduled on-call period of the employee, and the date and time of the cancellation. Lyndee Patterson is a senior compli- ance counsel at Ceridian in Win- nipeg. For more information, visit www.ceridian.ca. What should we do? This checklist should help Ontario employers gauge the scope of the changes needed to reduce exposure to risk: Review and modify benefi t top-up policies: • Understand the fi nancial implications of the new extended leave option on top-up programs. • Assess the cost of various options and consider the fairness of its impact. • Seek legal advice if considering reducing employee benefi ts. Plan your workforce: • Assess temporary staffi ng requirements, as well as training and retention strategies, to ensure you have access to adequate resources during longer periods of leave. Engage the payroll or benefi ts team: Understand current processes and consider what will need to change within the payroll and HR systems to help manage compliance and ensure employees are paid vacation, overtime, holiday pay and benefi ts in accordance with current requirements. Communicate: Set expectations with employees. It's essential to ensure they clearly understand: • the impacts of recent changes on their pay (vacation, holiday, overtime) • their options and obligations under the new and modifi ed leave provisions • the availability of 12 months of combined maternity and parental EI benefi ts over 18 months • how internal processes may change in response to the 2019 changes around scheduling.

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