Saskatchewan minimum wage stays put at $9.25 • Prison guard fired for false overtime claims • Knowledge of pay equity lacking • Salaries expected to increase in 2011
Saskatchewan minimum wage stays put at $9.25 with no foreseeable increase
REGINA — The provincial government is holding the line on Saskatchewan's minimum wage, keeping it at $9.25 per hour for the foreseeable future. The province announced in July it was accepting a recommendation from a review panel to leave the wage where it is, until another regular review is done. The panel said hiking the wage could be detrimental to the province. “There is a concern that a change in the minimum wage at this time could have a negative effect on the economy,” the panel said in its recommendation. “A further increase in the minimum wage may impact on the competitiveness of Saskatchewan businesses compared to their counterparts in other provinces.” The panel did endorse the concept of the indexation of the minimum, but said the idea needed more analysis. The government said the minimum wage board has been asked to look into the indexation topic and report by Dec. 31, 2010. The due date for the next overall review of the minimum wage by the board is Dec. 31, 2011. According to the review panel, there are 36,000 people in Saskatchewan who earn minimum wage, or about seven per cent of the workforce. Most of them are in the retail sales or food services sector. The panel noted that, compared to other minimum wage rates across the country, Saskatchewan ranked fourth behind Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. The ranking takes into account proposed hikes in other jurisdictions, to take effect in 2010.
Prison guard fired for false overtime claims: No policy in place to verify roster, operating on honour system
REGINA — A Regina jail guard has been fired for claiming $34,000 in overtime that he did not work, according to the Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing. The guard submitted the false overtime claims over the course of two years for shifts he didn't work at the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre. The problem was uncovered during a review of escalating overtime costs at the province's jails, which highlighted a flaw in the system for approving overtime that has since been fixed. The person who authorized overtime wouldn't have necessarily known the person had worked the overtime because they wouldn’t have been working on the correctional floor with them. There was no requirement to check back against the overtime roster, so the staff was operating on an honour system, which the ministry has since stopped using. The ministry’s review did not reveal any other cases of false overtime claims.
Knowledge of pay equity lacking
TORONTO — Despite the fact pay equity was legislated in Ontario more than 20 years ago, many employers aren't very familiar with their requirements under the act, according to a survey by Pal Benefits. Forty-eight HR professionals and company heads in Canada, the majority of which have employees in Ontario, participated in the survey. It found 48 per cent are only a little familiar with pay equity details and six per cent aren't familiar at all. All Ontario employers with more than 10 employees (with the exception of federally regulated employers) are required to post a plan and achieve pay equity. However, 68.7 per cent of respondents have either never posted a pay equity plan or do not know if they did, while only 31.2 per cent of respondents have definitely done so. Also, 14.5 per cent of respondents had reviewed their plan in the past three years while 20.8 per cent had reviewed it between three and 10 years ago. In Ontario, the Pay Equity Act does not require employers to undergo a pay equity plan review, unlike Quebec where employers must undergo a review every five years. However, Ontario's Pay Equity Office actively audits organizations for compliance. These can either be random or as the result of a pay equity complaint. Most respondents (66.6 per cent) thought they would pass an audit by the Pay Equity Commission, while 33.3 per cent were unsure or didn't think they would pass. The survey found 6.2 per cent of respondents have been audited and 4.1 per cent had been subject to a pay equity complaint.
Salaries expected to increase in 2011, wage freezes are on the way out
TORONTO — Aon Consulting’s annual pay increase survey shows strong signs that organizations are slowing down on freezing salaries. Among the 184 organizations surveyed to date, only one out of 25 participants expect to freeze salaries in 2011. This is a dramatic difference from previous years when one out of six respondents implemented salary freezes in 2010 and one out of three in 2009. Overall, the dampening impact on salaries caused by the 2009 economic crisis is subsiding. In recent years, organizations have remained cautious with salary increases. In 2010, organizations allocated a salary increase budget of 2.5 per cent and salary structure budget of two per cent. When organizations that have frozen salaries are included, these numbers drop. Many employers are expecting to be in a position to afford more aggressive salary increases in 2011. Aon’s research indicates salary increase budgets will be approximately three per cent of payroll in 2011. In addition, organizations are holding salary structure increases steady at two per cent.
