Legislative roundup: Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada

Proposed rules for eliminating B.C. HST released • Manitoba construction worker minimum wages to increase 3 per cent • Quebec's minimum wage to rise May 1 • New Brunswick Minimum wage going up • WCB of P.E.I. rolls out online employer assessment payment service • P.E.I. Minimum wage going up

British Columbia

Proposed rules for eliminating B.C. HST released

The federal finance ministry has released proposed transitional rules for eliminating the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in British Columbia by March 31, 2013. As a result of a provincial referendum last summer, the HST will be replaced by the federal GST and the provincial sales tax (PST) on April 1, 2013. The transitional rules lay out how and when the HST would stop applying to business transactions, including employer-provided taxable benefits that straddle the elimination date. The proposed rules would affect the way in which employers calculate the amount of HST they need to remit to the Canada Revenue Agency on taxable benefits they provide to employees. For taxable benefits other than automobile operating cost benefits, the calculation rate currently used for employees who report to work in B.C. is 11 per cent. With the elimination of the HST, the transitional rules propose that for 2013, the rate would be 5.75 per cent. Beginning in 2014, the rate would be four per cent as it is for other provinces where the GST applies. For automobile operating expense benefits, the rate currently used in B.C. is five per cent. For 2013, the rate would be 3.5 per cent. Beginning in 2014, it would be three per cent, as it is in other provinces where the GST applies.

Manitoba

Manitoba construction worker minimum wages to increase 3 per cent

Manitoba’s minimum wages for the commercial, industrial and heavy-construction sectors will be going up three per cent this year. The Construction Industry Wages Consultation Panel came to a consensus on the changes and based on its recommendation, wages for the industrial, commercial and institutional sector will increase three per cent June 1 and again on Jan. 1, 2013. Wages in the heavy construction sector will see two consecutive annual increases of three per cent, with the first raise taking effect on May 1. The panel is a joint industry-labour group covering rural and urban construction. The Construction Industry Wages Act divides the construction industry into the heavy sector and the industrial, commercial and institutional sector. Wage rates differ depending on the type of work performed and encourage participation in the apprenticeship training system to ensure a skilled workforce, said Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard. More information on wage rates can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards.

Quebec

Quebec's minimum wage to rise May 1

Quebec’s general minimum wage is going up 25 cents an hour on May 1, 2012.The general minimum wage will rise from $9.65 to $9.90. Employees who receive tips will have their wages raised from $8.35 to $8.55. Raspberry pickers will see an increase from $2.84 per kilogram to $2.91 per kilogram and strawberry pickers will see an increase from 75 cents per kilogram to 77 cents per kilogram. On the same day the province will also introduce new measures for board and lodging. Currently, if an employee is required to live at or have meals at the employer’s establishment, the Commission des normes du travail allows employers to deduct a maximum of $1.50 per meal, up to $20 per week, $20 per week for the room and $40 per week for the room and meals. Beginning May 1, the maximum deductions will be: $2 per meal, up to $26 a week. The deduction will be $25 a week for a room only, $30 a week for a room and meals if the room can accommodate five or more employees and $45 a week for a room and meals where the room sleeps no more than four employees. The amounts will be indexed based on increases in the minimum wage rate without exceeding the consumer price index. The deduction requirements will apply not only to situations where the employer provides the accommodation, but also to situations where the employer sees to it that accommodation is provided.

New Brunswick

Minimum wage going up

The general minimum wage rate in New Brunswick will increase from $9.50 per hour to $10 on April 1, 2012.  The minimum rate for employees whose hours of work per week are unverifiable and who are not strictly employed on a commission basis will rise from $418 per week to $440 on April 1, 2012.

Prince Edward Island

WCB of P.E.I. rolls out online employer assessment payment service

Employers in Prince Edward Island now have the option of paying workers compensation assessments electronically through the Workers Compensation Board’s online services. The employer assessment payment service is now available, with an online remittance option, for employers who participate in the monthly assessment payment option program. The online services allow employers to manage their WCB accounts and to report workplace injuries online. Online services are available 24 hours a day.

Minimum wage going up

The minimum wage rate in Prince Edward Island will increase from $9.60 per hour to $10 on April 1, 2012.

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