Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada
CANADA
CPP amendments now in force
Legislation to implement amendments to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is now law, although it will still be more than a year until rate changes it authorizes occur.
Bill C-26, An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Income Tax Act, came into force on March 3.
The act gives effect to an agreement in principle that federal and provincial (except Quebec) finance ministers signed last year to increase CPP contribution rates, implement an additional rate for high-income earners, and raise the plan’s income replacement level from one-quarter of pensionable earnings to one-third.
Between 2019 and 2023, the federal government will gradually raise the employee and employer CPP contribution rate from 4.95 per cent to 5.95 per cent for earnings up to the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE).
Beginning in 2024, it will implement a separate contribution rate of four per cent each for employers and employees for pensionable earnings between the YMPE and a new upper earnings limit. In 2024, the upper earnings limit will be 107 per cent of the YMPE. In 2025, it will rise to 114 per cent (or approximately $82,700).
ALBERTA
Government reviewing workplace laws
The Alberta government is reviewing the province’s Employment Standards Code and Labour Relations Code to “ensure Alberta has fair, modern and family-friendly workplaces that support a growing economy.”
The employment standards review will focus on issues such as unpaid leaves — including introducing a leave for the care of critically ill children — and improving enforcement and administration.
The government says the labour relations review will focus on ways “to make the code fairer, more balanced and effective.” It has appointed labour lawyer Andrew Sims to provide advice and support for the review.
Working group makes ESC recommendations for farm workers
A government-appointed panel studying employment standards protections for farm workers in Alberta recommends full coverage for some standards and exemptions and special rules for others.
The Employment Standards Technical Working Group recently submitted its recommendations to the provincial government. The group is one of six that the government established last year to develop recommendations on how workplace laws should apply to employers and employees in the agriculture sector.
The group recommended that the Employment Standards Code’s provisions covering paying earnings, employee records, unpaid leaves, and terminations continue to apply to paid, non-family farm and ranch workers.
It also recommended that agriculture employees who are family members of the employer be exempt from all of the standards.
Other recommendations for paid, non-family employees include:
• exempting them from hours of work and overtime standards, but giving them four days off work every 28 days
• covering them under the code’s vacation standards, with vacation pay based on a maximum of 44 hours of pay per week
• for holidays, employers should have the choice to pay workers the amount required under the code, straight time for hours worked plus a day off, or 3.6 per cent of their wages, based on a maximum of 44 hours of pay per week
• workers over 16 years of age should be paid at least the minimum wage rate. The rate for those under 16 should be 75 per cent of the minimum wage rate.
The group recommended that the government phase-in changes and provide education sessions on them.
MANITOBA
Government tables bill requiring referendum before raising taxes
The Manitoba government is proposing legislative changes that would require it to hold a non-binding referendum before tabling legislation that would increase rates for income tax, the Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy, or retail sales tax.
Finance Minister Cameron Friesen introduced Bill 21, The Fiscal Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act, in the provincial legislature March 13. The bill would also require the government to table a budget before April 30 every year.
In addition, it would restrict the ability of the government to run deficits, including levying financial penalties against ministers when deficits occur.
Government tables bill to reduce regulatory requirements
The Manitoba government is proposing changes to the province’s regulatory system that it says will make it “transparent, effective and efficient.”
Finance Minister Cameron Friesen tabled legislation March 14 that would require the provincial government to eliminate two regulations for every new one it creates until March 31, 2021.
The two regulations removed would have to be at least twice the administrative burden of the new one. After that date, the new rules would require the government to eliminate at least one regulation of equal or greater administrative burden for each new regulation it implements.
Bill 22, The Regulatory Accountability Act and Amendments to the Statutes and Regulations Act, would also require the government to annually track and report on the number of regulations and to review regulations three years after introducing them to ensure they are effective and efficient.
ONTARIO
Minimum wage rates going up
The general minimum wage rate in Ontario will rise from $11.40 an hour to $11.60 on Oct. 1, the provincial government recently announced.
The rate for liquor servers will rise from $9.90 an hour to $10.10, while the rate for students under age 18 who work fewer than 28 hours a week (or more during school vacation) will increase from $10.70 to $10.90.
Employment standards inspection blitz finds violations
A recent Ontario Ministry of Labour inspection of employers with previous employment standards violations found that only about 26 per cent were fully complying with the rules.
From Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 last year, employment standards officers inspected 104 workplaces in the province as part of an inspection blitz focusing on repeat violators. They concentrated primarily on sectors that the ministry said have a high rate of precarious employment, such as professional services, building services, amusement and recreation industries, and personal care services.
The ministry said repeat violations can be an indicator that an employer is intentionally or willfully violating the Employment Standards Act, 2000.
The most common monetary violations were for standards covering public holidays, overtime and vacation with pay. The most common non-monetary violations were for standards covering hours of work, record-keeping and written agreements for vacation pay.
QUEBEC
Reminder: Minimum wage rates increased May 1
The general minimum wage rate in Quebec increased from $10.75 an hour to $11.25 on May 1.
The rate increase also applies to employees in certain sectors of the clothing industry.
The minimum wage rate for employees who receive tips rose from $9.20 an hour to $9.45 on May 1.
The government also increased the minimum wage rates paid to workers who pick berries. The rate for raspberry pickers rose from $3.18 per kilogram to $3.33, while the rate for workers who pick strawberries went from 85 cents a kilogram to 89 cents.
