Canadian Payroll Reporter

THE COMPLIANCE AND STRATEGY SOURCE FOR PAYROLL AND HR PROFESSIONALS IN THIS ISSUE NEWS BRIEFS Demand for specialized payroll professionals increasing: Survey; Second quarter prescribed interest rates set; Payroll earnings up 0.9 per cent in December: StatsCan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS CHANGES ON HORIZON Several jurisdictions considering or making changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ASK AN EXPERT Spousal travel reimbursements . . . . . . . . 7 Paying for work on a stat is no holiday | BY SHEILA BRAWN | WHICH EMPLOYEES are entitled to be paid for a statutory holiday? Can em- ployers require employees to work on a holiday? How much should employers pay employees who work on a holiday? These are some of the questions pay- roll departments have to answer when statutory holidays appear on the cal- endar. With Good Friday, Victoria Day and Canada Day on the horizon, payroll practitioners will be dealing with a lot of statutory holidays in the coming weeks. The question of payment for work on a statutory holiday is often a challenging issue for payroll. Statutory holiday pay is regulated under employment stan- dards laws in all Canadian jurisdictions. In many cases, the rules are similar, but they are not always identical. Employers with employees in more than one prov- ince or territory have to be aware of the nuances in each jurisdiction. continued on page 3 APRIL 2014 PM #40065782 Payroll cards common in U.S., rare in Canada Cards not well known here, but they're facing increased scrutiny south of the border | BY SHEILA BRAWN | PAYING EMPLOYEES with payroll cards has received widespread attention in the United States recently, but in Canada the cards are still not widely known or used. Payroll cards, like direct deposit, are a way to pay employees. Employers load an employee's pay onto a card instead of depositing it in the employee's bank ac- count or giving the employee a cheque. The employee can use the card like a debit card to make purchases or with- draw amounts using an ATM. The cards offer a way for employ- ers to save money by reducing the use of paper cheques and make it possible to pay employees who cannot have di- rect deposit because they do not have a bank account. Employers in the U.S. have been using the cards for some time but, in the last year, the cards have come under increased scrutiny after some em- ployee complaints. Last summer, a former employee at a McDonald's franchise in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit claiming the company re- quired her to be paid through a payroll card that charged fees, such as for ATM withdrawals and checking the card bal- ance. Last fall, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin re- minding employers in the U.S. they can- not require employees to be paid with payroll cards. "Employees must have options when it comes to how they receive their wag- es," bureau director Richard Cordray said in the bulletin. This year, legislatures in Hawaii, New Hampshire and Wisconsin are taking steps to regulate the use of the cards. In January, legislators in Hawaii introduced a bill that initially would have banned payroll cards in the state. Politicians have since amended the bill to permit the cards under certain conditions. The bills in all three states are mak- ing their way through the legislative pro- cess. While the bills differ, they would all put similar controls on payroll cards. These include the following: ensur- ing employees can chose whether they want to be paid with a payroll card; giv- ing employees a minimum number of free withdrawals per pay period; mak- ing sure employees can access their card balance without charge; and allowing employees to switch to another payment method (this is already allowed in New Hampshire, but the amendments would prohibit charging employees for chang- ing). The American Payroll Association (APA) is concerned some of the propos- als would discourage employers from using the cards. In a submission to the New Hampshire legislature in January, the APA said the current rules are suf- ficient and there is no need to prohibit employers from charging any fees. "At a time when free chequing ac- counts are becoming significantly less common, (the bill) would require em- ployers who want to offer payroll cards to provide their employees with a num- ber of free banking services. This is not required for any other method of wage payment and is likely cost prohibitive." The APA says the cards are a good op- tion for paying workers who do not have a bank account or have limited access Continued on page 5

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