Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada
Federal
Feds table target benefit pension plan bill
The federal government is moving ahead with a plan to allow federally regulated private-sector employers and Crown corporations to establish target benefit pension plans if they so choose.
In October, Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, in Parliament. If passed, the bill would provide a framework for establishing, administering and supervising target benefit pension plans, which combines features of defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans.
The bill also proposes to allow pension plan administrators to buy immediate or deferred life annuities for former members or survivors in order to satisfy an obligation to provide pension benefits if the obligation arises from a defined benefit provision.
British Columbia
New regulations created for reservists’ leave
The British Columbia government has created regulations allowing members of the Reserves in the Canadian Forces to take an unpaid leave of absence from their job for Canadian Forces training.
The Reservists’ Leave Regulation, which took effect Oct. 26, allows members of the Reserves to take up to 20 days off work in a calendar year for Canadian Forces training activities or for travelling to and from the location of the activities.
The Employment Standards Act already allowed reservists to take time off, without pay, for Canadian Forces deployments inside and outside of Canada.
Employees who plan to take a leave for Canadian Forces training must give their employer at least four weeks’ advance notice, and employers may require additional information.
If the employee needs to extend the end date for the leave, he or she must give the employer at least four weeks’ notice before the proposed date of return in the original notice. If an employee expects to return to work earlier than planned, the Act requires the employee to give the employer at least one week of advance notice.
When the employee returns to work, the employer must reinstate him or her in the position held before taking the leave or in a comparable position.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Holiday list released for 2017
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has released a list of days to be observed as holidays in 2017 under the province’s Shops Closing Act.
The Act requires that all shops, other than those exempted, be closed on the following holidays:
New Year’s Day Jan. 1
Good Friday Apr. 14
Easter Sunday Apr. 16
Victoria Day May 22
Memorial/Canada Day Jul. 1
Labour Day Sept. 4
Thanksgiving Oct. 9
Remembrance Day Nov. 11
Christmas Dec. 25
Boxing Day Dec. 26
The Act also designates as holidays Regatta Day in St. John’s and Harbour Grace and any day fixed as a civic holiday by other municipalities.
New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial/Canada Day, Labour Day, Remembrance Day and Christmas are also paid holidays under the province’s Labour Standards Act.
Northwest Territories and Nunavut
WSCC considering legislative changes
The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) is considering amending the Workers’ Compensation Acts (WCAs) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to make them easier to understand and apply.
“The WCAs are a major governing instrument for the WSCC, and we want to ensure they provide the most up-to-date framework to best support Northern employers and the care of injured workers,” WSCC president and CEO Dave Grundy said in a news release.
One proposal would modify the definition of employer in the Acts to exempt from registration employers that operate in the territories for less than 10 days per year. The WSCC says this is already the case in practice and that most other jurisdictions have similar provisions in their legislation.
Another proposed change would broaden the WSCC’s ability to enter into information-sharing agreements with organizations such as the Canada Revenue Agency.
Stakeholders and the general public have until Dec. 9 to comment on the proposals. More information on the possible changes is available at http://www.wscc.nt.ca/about-wscc/stakeholder-engagement/current-engagement-opportunities/.
Nova Scotia
Maintenance enforcement amendments proposed
The Nova Scotia government is proposing to amend the province’s Maintenance Enforcement Act to give the Maintenance Enforcement Program more authority to collect court-ordered support payments owed to children and spouses, enforce court orders and locate parents who are regularly behind on their payments.
Attorney General and Justice Minister Diana Whalen tabled Bill 44, Maintenance Enforcement Act (amended), in the provincial legislature on Oct. 25.
The bill would make a number of changes to the Act, including authorizing the director of maintenance enforcement to issue garnishment notices for any amount for a payor’s future maintenance obligations if the payor is persistently in arrears.
This would be in addition to the director’s ability to issue garnishments for arrears.
Saskatchewan
WCB consulting on rate-setting recommendations
The Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) is consulting with employers and the public on recommendations to fine-tune the way it sets premium rates.
The recommendations stem from a review that actuarial consulting firm Eckler Ltd., carried out this year on the board’s rate-setting model, in place since 1998. It uses an industry’s historical claim costs, payroll and time-loss frequency trends to forecast all costs related to the next year’s expected time-loss claims. The WCB uses the data to calculate the revenue it needs to fund expected claims’ costs over a 50-year period.
In a report on the review, called Review of the model to establish the premium rates, Eckler stated that the WCB’s procedure for setting employer premium rates is sound and requires only refinements.
It made 11 recommendations, including focusing on classifying industries, using indicators to predict costs, allocating fatality costs, pooling costly claims, dealing with long-term claims and allocating administration costs.
Consultations will educate employers and the public about the recommendations, concluding in mid-December.
More information on the recommendations and the consultations is available at http://www.wcbsask.com/wcbs-2016-rate-model-review-recommendations/.
