Canadian Payroll Reporter

Payroll Reporter Can R Can R adian adian a www.payrollreporter.com July 2014 Quebec's VRSP law stands out from other PRPPs New legislation in Quebec will eventually require most employers to use payroll deductions to help employees save for retirement BY SHEILA BRAWN The counTDoWn is on for employers in Quebec to offer workers a way to save for retire- ment through a registered pen- sion plan or group retirement savings plan with payroll deduc- tions — or be forced to sign up for a Voluntary Retirement Sav- ings Plan (VRSP). Legislation allowing the cre- ation of VRSPs came into force on July 1. Right now, employers have the option to sign up for them. But eventually, they will be mandatory. All employers in the prov- ince that employ at least five workers aged 18 and over with a minimum of one year of uninter- rupted service (as defined under the Act respecting labour stan- dards) will have to have a VRSP if they do not offer payroll deduc- tions for a registered retirement savings plan or tax-free savings account, or do not have a regis- tered pension plan. Employers with 20 or more eligible employees as of June 30, 2016, will have to sign up for a VRSP by the end of that year. Employers with 10 to 19 eligible workers as of June 30, 2017, will have until the end of 2017. The government has not yet set a date for when employ- Alberta Minimum wage going up Minimum wage rates in Alberta are going up on Sept. 1. The general minimum wage rate will rise from $9.95 per hour to $10.20. The rate for liquor servers will rise from $9.05 per hour to $9.20. When the government implemented a minimum wage for liquor servers three years ago, it announced the rate would stay at $9.05 until the general minimum wage rate reached $10.05. Once that happened, the rate for liquor servers would increase, but would be $1 per hour less than the general rate. The minimum wage rate for certain salespersons specified Quebec budget pg. 2 Provincial budget proposes mix of new and old payroll-related measures. see TERMINATIONS on page 4 see lEGISlATIVE ROUNdUp on page 5 PM #40065782 Legislative Roundup Changes in payroll laws and regulations from across Canada Survey says… pg. 6 Payroll is the fi nance function most often outsourced, fi nds one survey, while another shows about 40 per cent of workers are not taking all of their paid vacation — either they're saving up or they have too much work. Ask an expert pg. 7 a look at social security agreements , plus the ins and outs of vacation pay and statutory holidays for summer students. Credit: Mathieu Belanger (Reuters) Getting it right when it comes to vacation pay Vacation pay requirements can keep payroll practitioners on their toes BY SHEILA BRAWN When eMpLoYees think of vacation, they may think of re- laxation, adventure or just time away from work. But for payroll practitioners, employees' vaca- tions can mean stress and extra work. Not only do they have to make sure they pay employees the correct amount for vacation pay, they must also ensure they comply with legal (and possibly collective agreement) require- ments for when to pay it. getting it right is important, says Theodora Lindsey, a payroll consultant with Carswell's Pay- roll Consulting group in Toron- to. "You want to use best practic- es with employment standards because it's all about preventing see VRSp on page 3 Quebec Minister of Finance Carlos Leitao speaks as he tables his provincial budget at the National Assembly in Quebec City on June 4.

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