Canadian Payroll Reporter

CANADIAN PAYROLL REPORTER 5 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP | CHANGES IN PAYROLL LAWS AND REGULATIONS FROM ACROSS CANADA ■ CANADA Reminder: Good Friday a statutory holiday Friday, April 18, is Good Friday. It is a statutory holiday under employment standards law in all Canadian jurisdic- tions. In Quebec, employers may desig- nate either Good Friday or Easter Mon- day (April 21) as the statutory holiday. ■ NOVA SCOTIA Reminder: Minimum wages increased April 1 Effective April 1, the minimum wage rates in Nova Scotia went up. For experi- enced workers (those with at least three months' experience in their job), the rate rose from $10.30 per hour to $10.40. The rate for inexperienced workers increased from $9.80 per hour to $9.90. The provincial government adjusts mini- mum wages annually based on the pre- vious year's national consumer price index. ■ ONTARIO Government proposes to index minimum wage The Ontario government has introduced legislation to index the province's mini- mum wage rates to the consumer price index (CPI), beginning Oct. 1, 2015. Bill 165, the Fair Minimum Wage Act, 2014, would require the government adjust the general minimum wage rate every year by the percentage change in the Ontario CPI between the two previ- ous years. For instance, to determine the general minimum wage rate for 2015, the government would multiply the 2014 rate by the percentage change between the 2013 CPI and the 2014 CPI. The other minimum wage rates for specific job categories (such as students or liquor servers) would increase pro- portionately to the general minimum wage. Any adjustments that would result in an amount that is not a multiple of five cents would be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel. If an adjustment would result in a decrease in minimum wage rates, the government would not change the rate. The bill would also require the gov- ernment to announce increases to the general minimum wage and all other categories by April 1 each year to give employers time to adjust to the change. In addition, it would mandate the prov- ince to carry out a full review of the minimum wage rates and the process for changing them every five years. The proposed legislation follows the province's announcement earlier this year that it would raise the minimum wage rates on June 1. The general mini- mum wage is slated to increase from $10.25 an hour to $11 at that time. ■ QUEBEC Reminder: Minimum wage increasing May 1 Effective May 1, Quebec will increase the provincial general minimum wage rate from $10.15 per hour to $10.35. The rate change will also apply to employ- ees in specified sectors of the clothing industry. The rate for employees who receive tips will rise from $8.75 an hour to $8.90. The minimum amount paid to employees who pick raspberries will rise from $2.98 per kilogram to $3.04 and the rate for strawberry pickers will go up from $0.79 per kilogram to $0.81. ■ YUKON Minimum wage increased April 1 Effective April 1, the minimum wage rate in Yukon increased from $10.54 per hour to $10.72. The minimum wage rate is indexed to the consumer price index and is adjusted every year on April 1. to traditional banking services. "Without payroll cards, underserved employees of- ten are forced to rely on expensive alter- native financial services, such as cheque cashers, to access their wages." The APA, along with the National Consumer Law Center, has published guidelines that it encourages employers to follow when setting up payroll cards for their employees. The guidelines sug- gest employers: give employees access to their full wages at least once a pay period without charge (for example, through ATM withdrawals); offer a pay- roll card that is widely accepted; provide clear information on how to use the cards and any associated fees; and en- sure employees have a free way to check their account balance. In Canada, some employers are pay- ing employees with payroll cards, but it is not widespread. David Gilbert, presi- dent of CanaCash Financial Services, which offers various types of prepaid cards with Visa, says payroll cards rep- resent only a small part of his business, but the number of clients is growing. "It's more new to us (in Canada)," he says. Gilbert says he has not heard com- plaints about the cards in Canada, add- ing that his clients do not force their em- ployees to use them. Instead, they offer the cards as another payment option. Dave MacKay, president of Ceridian Canada, says although Ceridian uses payroll cards in the U.S., it does not of- fer them here. "We don't do it now in Canada be- cause we survey our customers all the time… and only three per cent had any interest in the payroll card." By compari- son, MacKay says Ceridian in the U.S. processes more than $2 billion a year in cards. The chief difference between the U.S. and Canada is that south of the border Continued from page 1 Little Canadian interest in cards Continued on page 7 "Underserved employees often are forced to rely on expensive alternative fi nancial services."

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