Canadian Payroll Reporter

Published 12 times a year by Thomson reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $179 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 E-mail: carswell.customerrelations @thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Carswell Media karen Lorimer Publisher John hobel Managing Editor Todd humber Editor Sheila Brawn sbrawn@rogers.com Marketing Manager Mohammad ali mm.ali@thomsonreuters.com (416) 609-5866 Circulation Co-ordinator Travis Chan travis.chan@thomsonreuters.com (416) 609-5872 Payroll Reporter Can R Can R adian adian a www.payrollreporter.com ©2014 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business). Return Mail Registration # 1522825 | Return Postage Guaranteed Paid News Revenue Toronto Canadian Payroll Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications: • Canadian HR Reporter — www.hrreporter.com • Canadian Occupational Safety magazine — www.cos-mag.com • Canadian Payroll Reporter — www.payroll-reporter.com • Canadian Employment Law Today — www.employmentlawtoday.com • Canadian Labour Reporter — www.labour-reporter.com See carswell.com for information August 2014 | CPR News 2014 Canadian Payroll Association certifi cation winners The Canadian payroll association (Cpa) recognized its top instructor and students at its annual conference, held this year in Toronto in June. it is the first time the association has presented an instructor of the year award. The Cpa presents the student awards every year to individuals who attain the highest overall marks nationwide in its three compulsory payroll courses for the payroll Compliance practitioner (pCp) program. INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR: Dawn Kardos STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS: Gold: olayinka Kumolu-Johnson Silver: paul walker Bronze: Jacqueline Buccat State minimum wage rates MANY STATES have their own minimum wage rates, while others follow the rates set out in the federal fair labor standards act. if an employer is subject to both the flsa and to state law, the higher wage rate must be used. The following is a list of current hourly general state minimum wage rates: alabama none alaska $7.75 arizona $7.90 arkansas $6.25 California $9.00 Colorado $8.00 Connecticut $8.70 Delaware $7.75 District of Columbia $9.50 florida $7.93 georgia $5.15 Hawaii $7.25 idaho $7.25 illinois $8.25 indiana $7.25 iowa $7.25 Kansas $7.25 Kentucky $7.25 louisiana none maine $7.50 maryland $7.25 massachusetts $8.00 michigan $7.40 effective sept. 1, 2014 $8.15 minnesota large employer $8.00 small employer $6.50 mississippi none missouri $7.50 montana large employer $7.90 small employer $4.00 nebraska $7.25 nevada (with health benefits) $7.25 (without health benefits) $8.25 new Hampshire $7.25 new Jersey $8.25 new mexico $7.50 new york $8.00 north Carolina $7.25 north Dakota $7.25 ohio $7.95 oklahoma $7.25 oregon $9.10 pennsylvania $7.25 puerto Rico $7.25 Rhode island $8.00 south Carolina none south Dakota $7.25 Tennessee none Texas $7.25 utah $7.25 Vermont $8.73 Virginia $7.25 washington $9.32 west Virginia $7.25 wisconsin $7.25 wyoming $5.15 year or to pay them for taking the day off work on a statutory holiday. It is up to employers to decide whether to provide paid time off. In some cases, paid time off is part of a collec- tive agreement or employment contract. A report on international standards for paid vacation and paid holidays, released last year by the U.S.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, found that one in four Ameri- cans do not receive any paid va- cations or paid holidays. "The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its work- ers paid vacation days and paid holidays," said John Schmitt, se- nior economist with the centre and one of the report's authors. Despite the lack of legal re- quirements to do so, many em- ployers in the United States do provide paid time off for em- ployees. The report cites U.S. government survey data show- ing the average private sector employee has about 10 days of paid vacation time and about six paid holidays each year. The data also shows that only 49 per cent of low-wage workers in the U.S. have paid vacation time, compared with 90 per cent of high-income earners. In addi- tion, paid vacations were much more common for full-time workers (91 per cent) than part- time workers (35 per cent). Unpaid Leaves The federal Family and Medi- cal Leave Act (FMLA) requires certain employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to an eligible employee in the event of: a birth, adoption or foster care placement where the employee is the parent; or a seri- ous health condition involving the employee or the employee's spouse, child or parent. The FMLA applies to all em- ployers that employ 50 employ- ees within a 75-mile (about 121 km) radius for at least 20 weeks in the current or preceding cal- endar year. To be eligible for a leave, an employee must have 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours of work during the previous 12 months. Some states have enacted their own laws around unpaid leaves. If a state's law provides greater family or medical leave rights than the FMLA, the state law will apply. The FMLA also allows for a 26-week unpaid military care- giver leave. Employees who are the spouse, son, daughter, par- ent or next of kin of a member of the Armed Forces may take the leave to provide care to the service member if the person suffers a serious injury or illness. The time off is limited to a single 12-month period. As with laws in Canada, there are many exceptions and exemp- tions that apply to the FLSA, FMLA and to various state laws. Payroll practitioners in Canada who are responsible for U.S. payrolls should refer to the U.S. Department of Labor's website (www.dol.gov), as well as to the labour department in the state in which the employees work to ensure they are complying with from stanDaRDs on page 3 Many exemptions

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