Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 April 18, 2018 Effect on payroll As it stands, the change would effectively be a symbolic gesture that has no effect on Canadian employers, accord- ing to Jon Pinkus, employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumar- kin in Toronto. But if the provincial governments in question choose to amend employment standards legislation to recognize Nov. 11 as a statutory holiday, employers will see a shift in scheduling and financial obligations, he said. "is may be a prelude to something like that, but what does it change on the ground now? From my perspective, the answer is nothing," said Pinkus. "is may put on some pressure if it does get some light shed on it." e Canadian Payroll Association is monitoring any changes to provincial legislation ahead of Nov. 11, 2018, according to de Grâce. If changes are implemented, payroll staff will need to reprogram their systems, contact payroll service providers, and review budget plans or collective agreements to comply with updates, she said. Employment standards changes require adoption on the part of both payroll and human resources — including analyzation, implementation and communication to employees. "On the one hand, November's a long time away, but payroll programs do take a significant amount of time to program and test, and then communicate the changes to employers," said de Grâce. And if more provincial governments do choose to begin observing Remembrance Day, there is a chance non-statutory holidays such as August's civic holiday are going to be dropped from some employers' paid-holiday schedules, she said. "If Ontario decides to amend their act and introduce Remembrance Day as a required holiday, employers who are not bound by a collective agreement may take another look… (and) maybe this time will remove the civic holiday," said de Grâce. "ere's not a lot of provinces that recognize it at all, and even in Ontario, it's not obligatory. So there's lots of different moving parts." However, dropping a previously recognized holiday from the schedule would require a review of the terms of employment agreed to by employees, which should then give employers "at least a momentary pause," she said. And it should be noted that for the nine jurisdictions already observing Remembrance Day as a statutory or public holiday in Canada, no changes are expected, said de Grâce. 'Convoluted' practices While the alteration to the Holidays Act does not make Remembrance Day a national holiday, it has fixed the spotlight on some of the country's more convoluted holi- day practices, said Fraser. "It's really confusing, to be honest with you," he said. "(But) I don't think there's a big problem leaving it up to the provinces to decide time off in their jurisdiction. ere's different needs and desires across the country, depending on where you live." "So I don't think we need to change the system, but for Nov. 11, I do think a conversation in the provinces that don't already afford people a day off should be had." e disconnect between federally regulated employees and their provincially regulated counterparts can be a frustrating one, according to Pinkus. "If you work for Rogers or Air Canada, this is a statutory holiday," he said. "If you work for the mom-and-pop shop down the street, it's not, and that arguably doesn't make a whole lot of sense." e Canadian Payroll Association favours harmonization for holidays and other minimum employment standards, where possible, said de Grâce. "ere are certain things like minimum wage where you could justify the difference across Canada because of the cost of living across Canada," she said. "(But) the reality is whether you're working in Canadian Tire in B.C. or in P.E.I., you're still doing the same thing. So why would an employee have different entitlement to overtime, just because of the province or territory that they're working in?" "Perhaps an idea would be that 'national' or calendar- driven holidays be harmonized, and then maybe each province or territory has one individual holiday," said de Grâce, citing as examples the Yukon Territory's Discovery Day and Quebec's Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. "But for the other holidays, it's odd," she said. "You look at the total holidays being observed in one province to the other and there's a significant difference." Credit: REUTERS/Chris Wattie You look at the total holidays observed from one province to another and there's a significant difference." Gov. Gen. Julie Payette salutes during Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Nov. 11, 2017.

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