New Brunswick bumps minimum wage • B.C.'s WCB launches new e-business options … • … and changes the way it applies payments • Changes to automobile calculation • nimum wage set to go up in Nova Scotia • Changes to New Brunswick’s minimum reporting wage • Payroll manager gets 15 years in jail
New Brunswick bumps minimum wage
Fredericton —New Brunswick is upping its minimum wage 20 cents an hour to $6.20 effective Jan. 1, 2004. Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret Ann-Blaney said the move is the first part of a three-part increase that will eventually see the minimum wage rise to $6.60 over the next few years. In addition to bumping the minimum wage, the province also instituted minimum reporting pay and a six-point package of family-friendly amendments to the Employment Standards Act. For more information visit http://www.gnb.ca/0308/0001e.htm.
B.C.’s WCB launches new e-business options…
Richmond, B.C. — The Workers’ Compensation Board has introduced an electronic commerce service an employer can use to report payroll, pay premiums and manage its WCB account online at any time. In the past, employers paid premiums by cash or cheque. But with the new Online Reporting and Remitting service, most B.C. employers can choose among additional options including credit card payments, pre-authorized chequing, Internet or telephone banking and paying premiums in quarterly installments or pre-paying for the entire year. The WCB is also providing more flexibility when it comes to reporting payroll. In the past, most employers reported payroll each business quarter. Now the majority of employers (those that pay $1,500 or less per year in premiums) will be able to submit just a single report once per year. Employers can also use the system to check their latest transactions and account balances, update addresses, change ownership and contact information and cancel accounts. B.C. employers can sign up and get more information at www.worksafebc.com.
… and changes the way it applies payments
Richmond, B.C. — The Workers’ Compensation Board in British Columbia has changed the way it applies payments made by employers to their accounts. As of Dec. 13, 2002, all payments made by employers are applied to the oldest item on the account. Previously, some employers with outstanding balances were asking the board to allocate a payment to a specific quarter. Employers were then able to obtain limited clearance for that period, something that is no longer permitted.
Changes to automobile calculation
Ottawa — In the Feb. 18, 2003 budget, changes were announced for standby charges and exclusions of vehicles from the definition of automobile. A standby charge is a benefit that applies simply by virtue of the automobile being available to the employee for personal use. For 2003 and subsequent years, the standby charge is reduce when the automobile is used more than 50 per cent for business purposes and personal driving does not exceed 1,667 kilometres per month (20,004 annually.) Extended cab pickup trucks used primarily for the transportation of goods, equipment or passengers in the course of earning or producing income at a work site at least 30 kilometres away from any community having a population of at least 40,000 inhabitants are now excluded from the definition of automobile. Clearly marked police and fire emergency-response vehicles are also excluded.
Minimum wage set to go up in Nova Scotia
Halifax — On Oct. 1, 2003 the provincial minimum wage for experienced workers will rise 25 cents to $6.25 an hour. The change is the first of two increases to the provincial minimum wage. The wage will rise another 25 cents to $6.50 for experienced workers on Oct. 1, 2004. The minimum wage for inexperienced workers, defined as those who have been employed for fewer than three months, will also go up in two stages. On Oct. 1, 2003 the rate will increase to $5.80 per hour and on Oct. 1, 2004 it will rise to $6.05 an hour.
Changes to New Brunswick’s minimum reporting wage
Fredericton — New Brunswick has introduced a minimum reporting wage for employees not covered by the terms and conditions of a collective agreement. The change requires employees to be paid the greater of three hours at minimum wage or the actual hours worked at their regular wage rates when they report for work as required by the employer. The change applies to an employee whose regular wage rate is less than twice the minimum wage rate and who are regularly employed for more than three consecutive hours in a shift. If an employee has worked more than 44 hours in the week, the employer must pay the employee for the greater of three hours work at one-and-a-half times the minimum wage rate or for the hours worked at the employee’s regular wage rate.
Payroll manager gets 15 years in jail
Camarillo, Calif. — A payroll manager who stole $2.2 million (all figures U.S.) through a computer payroll scam has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. Dejah Browne, 38, pleaded guilty to 34 charges including grand theft, money laundering, forgery and filing false tax returns. Her scam involved making payments to former employees and then keeping the cash for herself. She kept the transactions hidden by switching to new computer software that only she was familiar with. The scheme was working relatively well until Browne got a little too greedy. She made three large payments to herself totaling more than $700,000 within a two-year period, which caught the attention of administrators at Seminis Vegetable Seed Inc. When confronted by company officials, she returned $1.2 million. Investigators uncovered 18 payments she made to herself between 1999 and 2001. Browne had evidently bought a farm in Michigan for $300,000 and was preparing to move there when she was caught.
Fredericton —New Brunswick is upping its minimum wage 20 cents an hour to $6.20 effective Jan. 1, 2004. Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret Ann-Blaney said the move is the first part of a three-part increase that will eventually see the minimum wage rise to $6.60 over the next few years. In addition to bumping the minimum wage, the province also instituted minimum reporting pay and a six-point package of family-friendly amendments to the Employment Standards Act. For more information visit http://www.gnb.ca/0308/0001e.htm.
B.C.’s WCB launches new e-business options…
Richmond, B.C. — The Workers’ Compensation Board has introduced an electronic commerce service an employer can use to report payroll, pay premiums and manage its WCB account online at any time. In the past, employers paid premiums by cash or cheque. But with the new Online Reporting and Remitting service, most B.C. employers can choose among additional options including credit card payments, pre-authorized chequing, Internet or telephone banking and paying premiums in quarterly installments or pre-paying for the entire year. The WCB is also providing more flexibility when it comes to reporting payroll. In the past, most employers reported payroll each business quarter. Now the majority of employers (those that pay $1,500 or less per year in premiums) will be able to submit just a single report once per year. Employers can also use the system to check their latest transactions and account balances, update addresses, change ownership and contact information and cancel accounts. B.C. employers can sign up and get more information at www.worksafebc.com.
… and changes the way it applies payments
Richmond, B.C. — The Workers’ Compensation Board in British Columbia has changed the way it applies payments made by employers to their accounts. As of Dec. 13, 2002, all payments made by employers are applied to the oldest item on the account. Previously, some employers with outstanding balances were asking the board to allocate a payment to a specific quarter. Employers were then able to obtain limited clearance for that period, something that is no longer permitted.
Changes to automobile calculation
Ottawa — In the Feb. 18, 2003 budget, changes were announced for standby charges and exclusions of vehicles from the definition of automobile. A standby charge is a benefit that applies simply by virtue of the automobile being available to the employee for personal use. For 2003 and subsequent years, the standby charge is reduce when the automobile is used more than 50 per cent for business purposes and personal driving does not exceed 1,667 kilometres per month (20,004 annually.) Extended cab pickup trucks used primarily for the transportation of goods, equipment or passengers in the course of earning or producing income at a work site at least 30 kilometres away from any community having a population of at least 40,000 inhabitants are now excluded from the definition of automobile. Clearly marked police and fire emergency-response vehicles are also excluded.
Minimum wage set to go up in Nova Scotia
Halifax — On Oct. 1, 2003 the provincial minimum wage for experienced workers will rise 25 cents to $6.25 an hour. The change is the first of two increases to the provincial minimum wage. The wage will rise another 25 cents to $6.50 for experienced workers on Oct. 1, 2004. The minimum wage for inexperienced workers, defined as those who have been employed for fewer than three months, will also go up in two stages. On Oct. 1, 2003 the rate will increase to $5.80 per hour and on Oct. 1, 2004 it will rise to $6.05 an hour.
Changes to New Brunswick’s minimum reporting wage
Fredericton — New Brunswick has introduced a minimum reporting wage for employees not covered by the terms and conditions of a collective agreement. The change requires employees to be paid the greater of three hours at minimum wage or the actual hours worked at their regular wage rates when they report for work as required by the employer. The change applies to an employee whose regular wage rate is less than twice the minimum wage rate and who are regularly employed for more than three consecutive hours in a shift. If an employee has worked more than 44 hours in the week, the employer must pay the employee for the greater of three hours work at one-and-a-half times the minimum wage rate or for the hours worked at the employee’s regular wage rate.
Payroll manager gets 15 years in jail
Camarillo, Calif. — A payroll manager who stole $2.2 million (all figures U.S.) through a computer payroll scam has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. Dejah Browne, 38, pleaded guilty to 34 charges including grand theft, money laundering, forgery and filing false tax returns. Her scam involved making payments to former employees and then keeping the cash for herself. She kept the transactions hidden by switching to new computer software that only she was familiar with. The scheme was working relatively well until Browne got a little too greedy. She made three large payments to herself totaling more than $700,000 within a two-year period, which caught the attention of administrators at Seminis Vegetable Seed Inc. When confronted by company officials, she returned $1.2 million. Investigators uncovered 18 payments she made to herself between 1999 and 2001. Browne had evidently bought a farm in Michigan for $300,000 and was preparing to move there when she was caught.
