Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada
New standards affecting pay statements and penalties now in force
The New Brunswick government has enacted legislative amendments regulating the use of electronic pay statements in the province.
An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act (Bill 46), which took effect on Sept. 1, allows employers to issue electronic pay statements to employees only if they ensure that employees have confidential access to the statements at their workplace.
Another amendment to the act clarifies that employees have the right to select the financial institution into which the employer deposits their pay, if the employer is using direct deposit.
Other amendments allow the director of Employment Standards to impose fines of up to $900 on employers who contravene provisions in the Employment Standards Act, such as those covering overtime pay, call-in pay, statutory holiday pay, vacation pay, minimum wage, paying wages and keeping records.
If, after an investigation, the director finds that an employer contravened the act, the director will give the employer 30 days to comply. If the employer fails to do so, the penalty for a first violation will be $150. For each subsequent violation, the penalty will increase by increments of $150, to $300 for a second contravention, $450 for a third, $600 for a fourth, $750 for a fifth and $900 for any subsequent violations.
The government has also amended regulations under the act to specify the information that employers must provide when they are applying to the Employment Standards director for an exemption from providing time off work for an employee who requests a reservist leave or an extension of the leave. The act allows employers to request an exemption if the leave would adversely affect the health or safety of the workplace or the public or cause the employer undue hardship.
The application must include the employer’s name and address; the name and address of each employee for whom the employer is applying for an exemption; and a statement that explains the nature of the employer’s business, the type of work the employee does, the reasons why the employer wants an exemption and the terms of the exemption.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Reminder: Minimum wage rose Oct. 1
The minimum wage rate in the province rose from to $10.25 $10.00 per hour on Oct. 1. The provincial government has announced that the rate will go up again on Oct. 1, 2015, to $10.50.
Last year when the government announced the changes, it said it expected to carry out a further review of the minimum wage in 2015.
Manitoba
New employment standards for temporary help workers
Amendments to the province’s Employment Standards Code extending notice of termination and termination pay requirements to temporary help employees came into effect Oct. 1.
The provincial legislature passed Bill 50, The Protection for Temporary Help Workers Act (Worker Recruitment and Protection Act and Employment Standards Code Amended) in June. The purpose of the legislation is to better protect temporary help workers.
The provincial government has also amended The Employment Standards Regulation as of Oct. 1 to specify when a temporary help employee’s layoff becomes a termination. Employers are required to give employees notice of termination. Since layoffs are a temporary break in employment, the province does not require employers to provide notice to employees being temporarily laid off. However, if the layoff is longer than eight weeks in a 16-week period, Employment Standards considers the employee to be terminated and the employer must provide notice of termination.
The amended regulation specifies that any week in which a temporary help worker is not available for work is not included as one of the eight weeks, but is included as one of the 16 weeks. Similar rules apply if Employment Standards has approved a longer period for temporary layoffs.
Employment Standards does not consider a temporary help employee to be available in a week if on one or more days in that week, the individual cannot work, is not available for work or refuses an assignment. Once a temporary help employee has been laid off for more than eight weeks in a 16-week period, Employment Standards considers the employment terminated and the employer must provide notice of termination.
The amended regulation also stipulates a temporary help worker is not entitled to termination notice if he or she works fewer than 12 hours a week, has substantial control over whether to accept shifts and is not penalized by the employer for refusing work.
It also prohibits temporary help agencies from restricting a temporary worker from obtaining permanent employment, regulates the charging of fees in situations where an agency’s temporary workers obtain employment with a client and requires temp agencies to be licensed by Manitoba Labour and Immigration.
In another amendment, the government added termination standards to the list of provisions in the code that do not apply to temporary election workers. They are also excluded from standards covering minimum wage, standard hours of work, overtime and statutory holidays.
Reminder: Minimum wage rose on Oct. 1
The provincial government increased the general minimum wage to $10.70 from $10.45 per hour on Oct. 1.
It also implemented a minimum wage of $10.95 per hour for security guards who hold a license issued under The Private Investigators and Security Guards Act. The guards were previously covered under the general minimum wage rate.
The wage change is the first in a series of minimum wage hikes for security guards to help address high turnover rates in the industry. The government plans to raise the rate for security guards again on Oct. 1, 2015, with the rate going up by 50 cents more than the general minimum wage rate.
On Oct. 1, 2016, the minimum wage rate for security guards will increase 75 cents above minimum wage. On Oct. 1, 2017, it will increase by another 75 cents, resulting in a rate that will be $2.25 more per hour than the provincial minimum wage rate. Effective Oct.1, the rate will rise to $10.20 from $10.00 per hour.
The provincial government will annually index the minimum wage rate in the future. The indexation formula will be based on percentage changes to the consumer price index and the average hourly wage for the previous year. Changes will occur on Oct. 1, with the government announcing the rate change on or before June 30 each year.
Prince Edward Island
Reminder: Minimum wage rose on Oct. 1
The provincial minimum wage rate rose to $10.35 from $10.20 per hour on Oct. 1. The government increased the rate to $10.20 on June 1, the first change in close to two years.
Saskatchewan
Reminder: Minimum wage rose on Oct. 1
The minimum wage rate in the province rose to $10.20 from $10.00 per hour on Oct. 1.
The provincial government plans to annually index the minimum wage rate in the future. The indexation formula will be based on percentage changes to both the consumer price index and the average hourly wage for the previous year.
Future changes will occur on Oct. 1, with the government announcing the rate change on or before June 30 each year.
