Legislative Roundup

FEDERAL

Reminder: New Canada Labour Code holiday pay rules in force this monthEffective March 16, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will implement new Canada Labour Code rules governing the way federally regulated employers compensate employees for statutory holidays.

Employees will no longer be required to work at least 15 of the 30 days before a holiday to qualify for statutory holiday pay. Instead, the new rules will require employees to be employed by their
employer for more than 30 days before they are eligible for statutory holiday pay.

ESDC says the new rules will also simplify statutory holiday pay calculations by replacing the current method of using different formulas depending on an employee’s pay cycle (such as monthly, weekly, daily and hourly, et cetera) with a single formula that will apply to almost all federally regulated workers.

For each holiday, employers will have to pay employees at least 1/20th of the wages they earned, excluding overtime, in the four weeks immediately before the week in which the holiday falls.

For commission-based employees who have worked for their employer for at least 12 weeks, statutory holiday pay will be 1/60th of the wages earned, excluding overtime, in the 12 weeks right before the holiday.

Manitoba

Annual health and tax levy report due Mar. 31

Employers who are required to pay the provincial Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy must file a Health and Education Tax Levy Annual Report with the provincial Finance Department by March 31.

Employers must register to pay the tax if their total annual payroll is more than $1.25 million. The first $1.25 million is exempt from the tax. On payroll between $1.25 million and $2.5 million, the rate is 4.3 per cent of accumulated remuneration exceeding $1.25 million.

If an employer’s annual payroll is more than $2.5 million, the tax rate is 2.15 per cent of monthly remuneration.

The finance department uses the report to reconcile the employer’s annual remuneration with the tax levy the employer paid for the year to determine if the employer paid more than was required or did not pay enough. If an employer paid an insufficient amount, the amount owing is subject to a penalty and interest retroactive to the date the payment was due during the previous year.

Employers must also file a copy of the federal T4 and T4A summaries for the preceding tax year; a summary of their contributions to an employee profit-sharing plan or an employee trust; a reconciliation of the difference between the amount reported on the annual report and the amounts entered on T4 and T4 summaries; and, if they are part of an associated corporation or corporate partnership, a Schedule for Associated Corporations/Corporate Partnerships.

Late returns are subject to interest and penalties.

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia’s minimum wage rates will go up on Apr. 1, the Department of Labour and Advanced Education has announced. The provincial government indexes the minimum wage rates to the consumer price index.

The rate for experienced workers (those with at least three months’ experience) will increase from $10.40 an hour to $10.60. The rate for inexperienced workers (those with less than three months’ experience) will rise from $9.90 per hour to $10.10.

Ontario

Employers who are required to pay the provincial Employer Health Tax (EHT) must file an Annual Return with the Ontario Finance Ministry by March 15.

Since the date falls on a Sunday this year, the ministry says it will consider EHT returns and payments to be submitted on time if it receives them by March 16.

The ministry uses the form to calculate the employer’s total EHT owing for the previous year.

For employers that remit the tax in monthly instalments, the ministry uses the form to compare the instalments already paid for the year with the total tax due to determine if there is a refund owing or a balance due.

Employers who are members of an associated group must complete and submit an Associated Employers Exemption Allocation form in addition to the annual report. Only one employer in the group is required to complete and submit it.

Employers who pay monthly premiums to Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) for workers’ compensation coverage must file an annual Reconciliation Form with the WSIB by the end of the month.

The WSIB uses the form to compare the employer’s actual earnings for the previous year with the amounts the employer reported monthly throughout the year.

Along with the form, there are several schedules that employers may have to complete for earnings, such as those related to contractors or subcontractors, municipal volunteer forces and ineligible gross earnings.

Quebec

The provincial Finance Ministry is proposing changes to a tax holiday affecting Health Services Fund (HSF) contributions for businesses that carry out large investment projects in Quebec.

Currently in Quebec, corporations or partnerships with investment projects of at least $200 million may be entitled to a 10-year exemption from paying HSF contributions and a deduction when calculating corporate income tax if they meet certain conditions.

Finance Minister Carlos Leitão announced in February that the ministry would extend the holiday by another five years so that it applies for 15 years.

It also plans to reduce the minimum capital investment threshold from $200 million to $100 million, with projects qualifying if they reach the $100 million threshold by the end of the investment period that applies for the project, as well as meet other eligibility requirements.

Other proposed changes would affect the time limits for making investments and for applying for an initial eligibility certificate for the tax holiday, as well as the parameters used to determine when the tax holiday begins.

For more details, please see Information Bulletin 2015-2, Additional Information Concerning Improvements to the Tax Holiday for Large Investment Projects Announced in the Ministerial Statement Delivered on February 10, 2015 at www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/bulletins/en/BULEN_2015-2-a-b.pdf.

Employers who pay premiums for workers’ compensation coverage in Quebec must file an annual report with the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) before Mar. 15.

The CSST uses the form, called Déclaration des salaires, to compare the employer’s actual assessable payroll for the previous year with the amount of premiums the employer paid throughout the year.