Contents:

Welcome!
Upcoming Events
What's New
GrandMaster Update

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Welcome!

April 2002 - Welcome to the latest edition of The Payroll News. As always, please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and associates who are interested in keeping up with the latest changes in the Payroll industry. Or better yet, subscribe them for free using the Tell Someone About Us link.

Upcoming Events

Listed here are recent changes in legislation on Federal and Provincial levels that may impact your payroll calculations. Please view the following list for changes that affect your region.

FEDERAL:

March 6, 2002 - Travel expenses for northern residents deductions, medical and moving expenses - According to the recent Fact Sheet issued by the CCRA, if individuals choose the detailed method to calculate meal expenses, they have to keep their receipts. If they choose the simplified method, they may claim a flat rate of $11 a meal, to a maximum of $33 per day, per person, without receipts. (Full Story - 450 Words)

NAOSH Week May 5 - 11, 2002 - North American Occupational Safety & Health (NAOSH) Week will be from May 5th through 11th, 2002. The goal of NAOSH Week is to focus the attention of employers, employees, the general public and all partners in OS&H on the importance of preventing illness and injury in the workplace. (Full Story - 600 Words)

Alberta:

March 18, 2002 - Legislation does not affect teachers' right to assemble - Amid continuing concerns that the Education Services Settlement Act, restricts teachers' right to assemble, the Minister of Learning, Dr. Lyle Oberg said "I want to reassure teachers that this legislation does not take away their right to assemble. The legislation's sole purpose is to find resolutions to the current disputes between the teachers and the school boards.". (Full Story - 362 Words)

British Columbia:

March 12, 2002 - Labour Code Discussion Paper Released - The B.C. Government is inviting comments on suggested amendments to the Labour Relations Code, Labour Minister Graham Bruce announced today. "We committed in the throne speech to consult with British Columbians on changes needed to improve the labour code, to provide greater flexibility, fairness and efficiency for employers and employees alike," said Bruce. "We want to see measures that revitalize our economy by improving job creation and competitiveness.". (Full Story - 236 Words)

Manitoba:

February 28, 2002 - New WCB Community Initiative and Research Grants - The Workers Compensation Board (WCB) of Manitoba has announced the priorities for its Community Initiatives and Research program for 2002. This year's Program is focused on prevention, rehabilitation and community support. "Prevention of occupational injury and disease in Manitoba's young workforce is crucial," said Wally Fox-Decent. "We are also looking at community-based programs that emphasize occupational injury and disease awareness, and workplace health and safety.". (Full Story - 630 Words)

New Brunswick:

March 8, 2002 - New Brunswick Unemployment Rate Lowered - A record number of New Brunswickers working and the largest labour force ever recorded helped fuel a drop in the provincial unemployment rate, Training and Employment Development Minister Norman McFarlane said today. Figures released today by Statistics Canada show the New Brunswick seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February stood at 11.2 per cent, which was down from 11.5 per cent at the same time last year, and also down slightly from the same time last month when it was recorded at 11.3 per cent. (Full Story - 298 Words)

February 26, 2002 - Reminder Regarding Third increase to minimum wage - A 10-cent-an-hour increase to the provincial minimum wage will take effect August 1, 2002, Training and Employment Development Minister Norman McFarlane reminded employers and employees today. This is the third minimum wage increase for workers in New Brunswick by the government, bringing the rate to the promised level of $6 per hour by Aug. 1 this year. The first increase of 25 cents was implemented Jan. 1, 2000, bringing the rate to $5.75 per hour. (Full Story - 350 Words)

Newfoundland and Labrador:

March 11, 2002 - Commission redesigns health and safety training for small employers - The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission has listened to the concerns of small business (less than 10 employees) and redesigned the requirements for occupational health and safety training. The new training program for worker health and safety representatives will be available to training providers certified by the commission by March 22, 2002. (Full Story - 321 Words)

Ontario:

March 26, 2002 - Government of Canada to Fund Youth Employment Strategy - HRDC Minister Jane Stewart announced today that the Government of Canada would provide funding of $458,798, through the Youth Employment Strategy (YES), for a Youth Internship Canada (YIC) project. The project will help 108 Toronto area youth gain valuable work experience and transferable skills that will help them in their future endeavours. (Full Story - 1,421 Words)

Saskatchewan:

March 1, 2002 - WCB Announces Telephone Claims Reporting - WCB Telefile will help reduce the amount of time it takes to process workplace injury claims received by the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). It is one of the latest in a series of improvements geared to provide better service to injured workers and employers. According to WCB Chairman John Solomon, "Its aim is to help both employers and injured workers get faster access to the WCB-related services they need.". (Full Story - 278 Words)

The latest release of GrandMaster Suite (3.50.13) incorporates a number of changes that make it even easier to use the program and perform your payroll tasks. Recent program changes since our last Payroll News issue include:

• The employee pay statement report has been modified to display an employee pay rate to 2, 3, or 4 decimal places, depending on the rate. GrandMaster Suite allows rates up to 4 decimal places but if the employee rate contains a zero in the third and fourth decimal position, the report will display the rate to two decimal places. Accordingly, if only the last decimal position is a zero, the rate will be displayed to three decimal places.
• We have added the ability to enter ticket numbers while you are entering employee hours using the Hours Entry feature. To accommodate this, a Reference field has been added to the Hours Entry and Shift Time Entry (Timekeeping) dialog boxes. This field allows you to enter reference data up to 20 characters in length. The Reference field is also included in the Fields to Use options allowing you to disable this field for data entry if it is not required.
• The report entitled Previous JE has been changed to Journal Entry (Old Format). This change was based on the feedback of several users who incorrectly thought that the report would display results for the previous payroll run.
• Improved Pay Stub display to support large cheque amounts. We have removed the support for commas in the amount figure when producing pay stubs. This enhancement (from the previous version of the program) was added to assist users when printing large cheque amounts (greater than $1,000,000.00). This change has been reversed based on additional user feedback. A future release may include a checkbox that would allow you to include commas in the statement display. .

Stay tuned to CanPay's Product News page to receive the latest changes and release information for all GrandMaster products!

• • •

March, 2002 - The Management and Staff of CanPay regret to announce the passing of our Office Manager and Co-owner Marlene Scammell. Marlene was an integral force at our company and will be greatly missed. Thank you to the many clients and friends who expressed their support during this difficult time.

March 28, 2002 - Attention GrandMaster II for Windows Users - A new version is now available for download from our website. Many users have provided excellent feedback based on our first few releases and are regularly using the new program to process their payrolls. Please continue to send us your feedback - we are striving to make your conversion to the Windows version as easy as possible. Remember that All GrandMaster II (for DOS) users can still upgrade to the new Windows version Free of Charge! If you have not yet received your upgrade copy, please send an e-mail request to sales@canpay.com.

Springtime is here! Time to pack away the winter clothes for another year and look forward to the new season. Many organizations have completed their year-end procedures and are already planning ahead for the upcoming Payroll season. With year-end behind you, now is an excellent time to start thinking about ways to increase and/or improve your payroll skills. One such way is to take advantage of a specialized Payroll Training course offered by a recognized Payroll training organization.

A Recent Case Study

For example, imagine that you are payroll manager of a large organization and you are told that your operation is being split geographically into two and you have to make a payroll operational in the new geographical area in short order -- with an entirely new payroll staff. That is exactly the situation that faced the Northwest Power Corporation in late 2000. As a result, Cheryle Donahue, Group Leader of Human Resources of NWT Power called upon the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA) to assist in some quick training to enable the organization to be up and running with a move to the Nunavut Power Corporation.

The CPA has developed a strong reputation as the industry leader in the area of payroll education and training. Their PMCP program and Professional Development Series training programs enable the payroll practitioner, or those new to payroll, the opportunity to receive quality education and training by some of the country's brightest and best payroll professionals.

The needs of the NWT Power/Nunavut Power group were far reaching as Nunavut Power had to set up an entire head office function, including payroll. In February of last year, an experienced CPA representative made the trip to Hay River in the Northwest Territories to train eight individuals on the intricacies of the payroll function. The program offered was a five-day comprehensive Payroll Administration in Canada program.

Payroll Administration in Canada, or PAIC as it has become known, is an intensive training course created to give participants a solid foundation in the basics of Canadian payroll. Subjects cover everything from an introduction to government agencies to producing a regular pay to managing taxable benefits and handling allowances to terminations to year-end and managing workers' compensation. The program is truly an A to Z of the payroll function. The solution was the right one for NWT/Nunavut Power Corporation. Comments from participants proved that the training received was invaluable in moving into the payroll role.

One of the main goals for a Payroll Training organization is to ensure that payroll practitioners and other business professionals continue to meet their payroll legislative compliance. The CPA, for example, continues to increase its course offerings to keep pace with ever-changing technology and Payroll legislation. In addition to Payroll Administration in Canada and Learning Payroll I and II, they also offer the following PDS seminars:

• Year-end and New Year Requirements
• Taxable Benefits
• Terminations
• Special Payments and the ROE
• Payroll Accounting for the Non-Accountant
• Employment Standards
• Payroll Administration in Quebec

On top of the specialized PAIC program, a one-day Payroll Administration in Quebec program is also offered, assisting with the unique nuances in administering a Quebec payroll. Further, many of the regions offer specialized sessions that deal with workers' compensation, family maintenance and provincial health care levy issues.

While the NWT/Nunavut Power Corporation was able to take advantage of a corporate training arrangement where payroll trainers visited the Nunavut location, not all payroll departments have that luxury. As such, training organizations must look at other ways to deliver their course content to members and non-members. This involves considering ways to reach beyond the old "tried and true" in-person training.

New Technologies

Internet technology has made the interactive classroom a reality. Many organizations offer spontaneous multipoint videoconferencing without a server, multimedia with application and document sharing, TV-quality video and CD-quality sound. All of this is available to the user's desktop - and everyone else's - via any standard type of network. For example, the CPA plans to soon offer its members the "webinar" -- an innovative training tool for distance learning.

Whether you are up to your neck in T4s and unable to leave your office, or located in a remote location that prevents you from getting to a major centre, or perhaps you just look forward to the networking and learning experience that comes from attending a live session, professional payroll training organizations, like the CPA, will continue to meet the needs of payroll professionals.

Article Courtesy of the Canadian Payroll Association