Canadian Payroll Reporter

the compliance and strategy source for payroll and hr professionalsAUGUST 2013 Payroll professional strikes designation gold Losing her job as an administrative assistant was a blessing in disguise for Charlene Stoddard | by ZACHARY PEDERSEN | When Charlene Stoddard lost her job in March 2011, she had no idea how much her life would change in the next two years. By day, the Saint John, N.B.-native was used to being an administrative assistant at an interior decorating firm. By night, she was a caregiver to her husband, who had been disabled in an accident 15 years earlier. Stoddard also has an adult-aged daughter, who was also living with disabilities. "Like anyone else, I was really devastated when I lost my job," she says. "But I'm also the type of person that says, 'Okay, I'm going to get up and what am I going to do?'" Stoddard paid a visit to Service Canada. "I went to EI (employment insurance) and they have a seminar that everybody has to take and I made an appointment to see someone from social development," she says. Stoddard felt the best thing for her to do was tune up her computer skills — something she hadn't needed before. She thought it might open some doors to future possibilities. But the social development representative had a different plan for Stoddard. "She said she had been doing this for over 30 years and she thought I was the perfect candidate to go back to school full-time," Stoddard says. Stoddard hadn't been to school in IN THIS ISSUE SOLID PREP KEY FOR A SUCCESSFUL TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION A list of preliminary actions to take when looking at new tech solutions . . . . . . . . . 3 NEWS BRIEFS Employment virtually unchanged in June: StatsCan • Average weekly earnings up 0.2 per cent in April: StatsCan • Most Canadians filed income tax online this year: CRA • Pay equity cheques will soon be in the mail for Canada Post employees • N.Y. attorney general probes payroll cards over fees . . . 6 ASK AN EXPERT Calculating statutory holiday pay . . . . . 11 Payroll, HR on the go Charlene Stoddard, a payroll professional from Saint John, N.B., scored the highest out of 1,800 professionals who received the PCP certification in 2012. years. She didn't even have any postsecondary schooling. Social development would provide financial support for Stoddard but, in order to qualify, she needed to choose a career area with a high possibility of leading to employment. The payroll field was a hotspot for jobs. The two decided that come September, Stoddard should enroll in the accounting and payroll diploma program at Eastern College in Saint John. With her high attention to detail and strong problem solving and math skills, Stoddard would be an excellent candidate, the social development representative told her. It was a two-year program, but Stoddard would complete the optional Continued on page 8 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2013 HR's reach expands with greater options for employees using mobile devices | by SARAH DOBSON | Employees hate filling out paperwork so online and mobile options make life that much easier — and most companies want employees to be more autonomous, says Lauralee Guthrie, digital and social media director at Randstad Canada in Toronto. "Mobile applications are one of the largest growing opportunities, from a professional perspective, that businesses are using today," she says, adding Randstad is moving to a mobile system to supplement its online options. "We just like to make it as easy as possible, especially when we have continued on page 2 1

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