News briefs

Ontario pledges fixes to help foreign-trained professionals; Canadian exec pay to come under microscope; Health plans preferred over $15,000 in cash; Employers leery of transfer of health costs; Manitoba mulls sweeping labour standards changes; Ontario and Quebec resolve labour mobility ‘irritant’; Retirement age increase proposed in U.K.

Ontario pledges fixes to help foreign-trained professionals

Toronto — The Ontario government is introducing a bill, the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act 2006, to help internationally trained professionals find work faster in their fields. The bill would amend the current appeals processes for the registration decisions on professional regulatory bodies in 34 regulated professions, including physicians, accountants, lawyers, teachers, engineers and social workers. Also, 70 six-month internship spots have been created in the provincial public service to help foreign-trained professionals gain Canadian experience.

Canadian exec pay to come under microscope

Montreal — Canadian securities regulators are working on rules to improve disclosure of executive pay, said Ontario Securities Commission chair David Wilson in a speech at the Canadian Club. With the United States Securities and Exchange Commission mulling over proposed rules for compensation disclosure released in January, Wilson said Canadian securities regulators should be ready to seek public comments by early fall. However, the new rules won’t control the compensation process.

Health plans preferred over $15,000 in cash

Laval, Que. — An Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,500 workers covered by employer-sponsored health benefit plans found 63 per cent said they would choose their health benefit plans over $15,000 in cash. According to the sanofi aventis Healthcare Survey, an equal share said their plans meet their needs “very” or “extremely” well, up from 56 per cent last year.

Employers leery of transfer of health costs

Toronto — Three in four Canadian companies surveyed said governments should prohibit the unintended transfer of health costs from the public system to individual or group insurance plans, according to a Mercer Human Resource Consulting survey of 180 companies released last month. Their concerns arise out of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision last year that cracked the door open for private health coverage. However, if private insurance is offered on the market, 39 per cent of companies surveyed would consider the option on an employee-pay-all basis and 14 per cent would consider it on a cost-shared basis.

Manitoba mulls sweeping labour standards changes

Winnipeg — Labour Minister Nancy Allan is considering a set of sweeping changes to the province’s labour standards, including minimum pay for workers sent home if there’s no work, improved statutory holiday pay for part-time workers and improved overtime pay provision for workers on commission or on piecework. The recommendations issued by the labour management review committee would represent the first major reforms to Manitoba’s labour standards in three decades. Among proposals are also new restrictions on type of work and number of hours worked for minors as well as a ban on minors working alone between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Ontario and Quebec resolve labour mobility ‘irritant’

Toronto — The premiers of Ontario and Quebec have reached a deal that would allow Ontario construction workers greater access to jobs in Quebec. Among the areas covered are contracts awarded by crown corporations, including utilities, such as Hydro Quebec. The decades-old dispute came to a head in 1999 when then Ontario Premier Mike Harris banned Quebec workers from Ontario work sites, but a shortage of workers in Ontario has since effectively undone that ban.

Retirement age increase proposed in U.K.

London — The British government unveiled major changes to the state pension system last month, including a gradual increase of the retirement age to 66 in 2024 and to 68 by 2044. The government’s proposal accepted many of the recommendations by the Pensions Commission, a government-appointed panel. It warned that by 2050 there will be 50 per cent more pensioners in Britain and nearly 10 million people — about one in six — are not saving enough for their retirement. The commission also warned that by 2050, state pension will decline from 20 per cent of average pay to less than 10 per cent.

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