Contents:

• Welcome
• Upcoming Events
• What's New
• GrandMaster Update

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Welcome!

December 2003 - 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 Others 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:

November 25, 2003 - Employment Insurance Premium Cut: Rate Set for 2004 - Employment insurance (EI) premiums will be reduced by 12 cents to $1.98 in 2004, John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development, confirmed today. This reduction is in accordance with the announcement made in the budget of February 18, 2003, and the passage of Bill C-28 in June. Maximum insurable earnings will remain at $39,000 for 2004. (Full Story)

November 6, 2003 - Government launches enhanced Web site for youth - The HRDC today launched an enhanced version of the Government of Canada's youth Web site, Youth.gc.ca. Targeted at Canadian youth between the ages of 15 and 30, the site includes valuable information on various youth programs and services to employers, youth service providers and educational organizations, including quick and easy access to information on the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy. (Full Story)

December 2, 2003 - Government renews its strategy to increase Aboriginal employment - Canada's Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS) is being renewed and will come into effect on April 1, 2004 when the current Strategy sunsets. The renewed Strategy will build on the groundwork achieved under the existing AHRDS and is expected to help 100,000 Aboriginal people enter the workplace in the next five years. (Full Story)

Alberta:

November 3, 2003 - Foreign Trained Professionals access strong labour market - Engineers, accountants, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers and other professionals trained in other countries can now receive one-on-one employment counselling and participate in job shadowing and work experiences to help them find employment in Alberta. Alberta Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford says "We are pleased to contribute $1.8 million to the Centre for Foreign Trained Professionals to help over 1000 newcomers with a professional designation find employment over the next three years." (Full Story)

November 6, 2003 - Almost half of Alberta industries will see premium rate decreases in 2004 - The average premium rate increases to $1.98 for 2004. As a result, 43 per cent of employers will see a decrease in their industry’s rate," stated Guy Kerr, president and CEO of the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) - Alberta. This makes the average premium rate for 2004 4.8 per cent higher than last year's rate of $1.89. (Full Story)

November 13, 2003 - New safety rules for Alberta workplaces - The province's new Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code will ensure that workplace safety rules keep pace with changes on Alberta worksites and are easier for employers and workers to use. "Putting all of the province's technical safety requirements into the new OHS Code is part of the government's commitment under the Work Safe Alberta initiative to reduce workplace injuries by 40 per cent," said Alberta Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford. (Full Story)

British Columbia :

November 28, 2003 - New rules protect young workers - Young workers, many starting their first jobs, will be protected under new employment standards rules. The new regulation, which comes into effect on Dec. 14, makes employers responsible for ensuring employees who are 12, 13 or 14 years old don’t work during school hours. The student may work up to four hours on a school day and up to 20 hours a week when school is in session. If school is not in session, the maximum work time is seven hours a day and 35 hours in a week. (Full Story)

November 28, 2003 - New definition of farm workers - Effective immediately, the revised definition specifies a range of activities involved in agricultural production (see the link below for complete list). In May 2003, the government returned regulations covering hours of work, overtime and statutory holidays for farm workers to where they had been before 1995. The ministries of skills development and labour, and agriculture food and fisheries have signed a memorandum of understanding with the B.C. Agriculture Council to improve employment standards compliance by promoting greater awareness and education of employer responsibilities and employee rights. (Full Story)

November 13, 2003 - WCB average premium rate to remain unchanged in 2004 - The Workers’ Compensation Board’s 2004 premium rates will be among the lowest in Canada. The average base premium rate for 2004 will remain virtually unchanged from this year at $2.059 per $100 of assessable payroll, compared to a rate of $2.053 for 2003. The 2004 average rate is 10 percent lower than the 1996 rate, which peaked at $2.29. (Full Story)

December 2, 2003 - New WCB President and CEO appointed - The Board of Directors of the Workers' Compensation Board is pleased to announce the appointment of David Anderson as president and chief executive officer effective December 15, 2003. This concludes a nationwide search conducted in recent months. Serving nearly two million workers and more than 172,000 employers, the Workers' Compensation Board of BC is a provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors. (Full Story)

New Brunswick:

November 6, 2003 - NBCC graduates finding employment at record levels - The latest New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) graduate follow-up survey confirmed once again that graduates are being employed at an all-time high rate, one year following graduation, Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney said today. "I am pleased to report that 89 per cent of the class of 2002 were working one year after graduation," Blaney said. "The high employment rate for NBCC graduates has been maintained for over five years, which emphasizes the top quality instruction provided through the college network." (Full Story)

November 7, 2003 - Provincial unemployment rate follows national rate - The unemployment rate remained the same in October, standing at 10.8 per cent as compared to the same time last year, and a thousand more new Brunswickers were working last month than in September, Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney reported today. Statistics Canada figures showed last month that the number of employed was 343,700 as compared to 342,700 in September. The survey also reported that the labour force for October grew by 1,600 to stand at 385,300 as compared to 383,700 the previous month. (Full Story)

Northwest Territories:

November 28, 2003 - Minimum Wage to Increase in December - Effective December 28, 2003, the minimum wage in the Northwest Territories will increase from $6.50 to $8.25 an hour. The Legislative Assembly approved changes to the minimum wage earlier this year. "The minimum wage has not been changed since 1991," Minister of Justice Roger Allen notes, "this new wage is reflective of the increased cost of living since 1991." (Full Story)

November 28, 2003 - Ministers approve safety act - Honourable Joe Handley and Honourable Kelvin Ng, the Ministers Responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board of the NWT and Nunavut, jointly announce today the approval of the Regulations to eliminate and control second-hand smoke in the workplace. The Regulations known as the Environmental Tobacco Smoke Worksite Regulations will come into effect on May 1, 2004. (Full Story)

Nova Scotia:

November 28, 2003 - New Regulations to Clarify Overtime Provision - Amendments to Nova Scotia's Labour Standards Code that will reduce the impact of new overtime provisions were announced today. The new regulations will increase flexibility for some industry sectors and restore previous exemptions. The amendments will come into effect for all workers on Dec. 12. "We're still committed to ensuring workers are paid a fair wage for overtime..." said Environment and Labour Minister Kerry Morash. (Full Story)

Ontario:

December 1, 2003 - McGuinty government raises minimum wage, helps lowest-paid workers - The McGuinty government is delivering positive change to Ontario by keeping its commitment to raise Ontario's minimum wage for the first time in nearly nine years. The minimum wage will be raised to $7.15 per hour on February 1, 2004, and there will be increases each year thereafter until it reaches $8 per hour on February 1, 2007. (Full Story)

November 24, 2003 - WSIB Lauds Launch of Passport to Safety Program - The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) gives its full support of the Passport to Safety program. The nation-wide young worker safety program was launched today at an event held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ottawa. Passport to Safety is a national safety awareness program that tests youth's knowledge on health and safety issues in the workplace and allows them to track their health and safety training on an on-line, printable transcript. (Full Story)

November 26, 2003 - Holiday season has three public holidays under Employment Standards Act - Many workers will get three public holidays off this holiday season with "public holiday pay." Three of eight public holidays under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 fall on: Christmas Day on December 25, Boxing Day on December 26 and New Year's Day on January 1. (Full Story)

Prince Edward Island:

November 17, 2003 - New campaign encourages Islanders to consider trades - The HRDC today announced funding of $467,652 under the Canada/Prince Edward Island Labour Market Development Agreement to support the Career Know How initiative. The campaign targets 5 skilled trade and 10 health care occupations that are expected to have skill shortages and good employment potential. (Full Story)

The year-end release of GrandMaster Suite (3.80.09) incorporates a number of changes to make it even easier to use the program and perform your payroll tasks. Recent program changes since our last Payroll News issue include:

• New EFT file format added (Wells Fargo) - When using the EFT feature, you can now export your data to a format that conforms to the specifications required by the Wells Fargo Bank.

• New deduction calculation method added (number 127) - A new deduction calculation method (number 128) has been added that allows you to calculate the deduction as a percentage of earnings with a minimum and a maximum. The minimum is a dollar amount and the maximum is a rate X the employee rate. This new calculation method requires three parameters; Deduction %, Deduction Minimum, and the Maximum Deduction Rate. The deduction determines the result as follows: the amount of the selected earnings is multiplied by the deduction %. If the result is less than the specified minimum deduction, the minimum will be used. The deduction can be capped to a maximum amount that is determined by multiplying the Maximum Deduction Rate by the employee's Base Earning rate. If the deduction calculation surpasses this maximum amount the maximum will be taken. The maximum amount is dependent upon the employee having a base earning specified. If there is no base earning there will be no maximum.

• New deduction calculation method added (number 128) - A new deduction calculation method (number 128) has been added that allows you to calculate the deduction as a dollar amount with a maximum with the benefit being a percentage of the decreasing maximum. This new calculation method requires three parameters; the Deduction Amount, Deduction Maximum (amount of loan) and the Benefit %. The calculation will take the deduction amount for each pay upon which it is calculated until it reaches the maximum amount. The Benefit percentage is essentially the interest free amount that is taxable and is calculated on the outstanding loan balance.

• T4-related dialog boxes enhanced with Reléve 1 options - We have added two new checkboxes to the Deduction Assignments dialog box: The values for Box J and box P can now be included on your Reléve 1 report by placing a check in the appropriate box. Additionally, the Reléve 1 Summary report now displays the totals for all of the possible fields that can be checked off in the corresponding setup dialog boxes.

• Hours entry dialog box enhanced with data entry message - If the Hours and/or Amount fields were empty, then you tried to move past the last available entry field, the focus would remain in the last field and you could not save the changes to the list. Now the program will display a warning message box when both the hours and amount fields are set to zero in the same record (at which time you are returned to the hours field so you can enter the data).

• Start Date added to Employee List-type dialog boxes - The Name in Payroll dialog box (and other similar dialog boxes that display the employee list in the same manner) now have an additional section that includes the current employee's Start Date.

• Employee Earning Report now includes option to display Distribution - The Employee Earning Report dialog box (both the Fields and Export tabs) now include a check box entitled Distribution. Checking this box enables you to view the distribution code for each employee when the report is created.

• Employee Pay statements now support Stub-Cheque-Stub format - The Layout tab (in the Payroll Statements dialog box) now includes a third option under the Page Layout section. Entitled Stub-Cheque-Stub, this new option will produce a statement that prints a pay stub in the top 1/3 of the page, followed by the cheque in the center, then followed by another stub at the bottom 1/3 of the page.

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

Going to work gets to be such a routine that we sometimes just don't realize how many hours of the day we spend there.

In fact, some say work may have well have replaced the traditional social networks of family, church and community. For instance, people are much more mobile and may live far from family. Others are single or divorced. Still others may simply want to be independent of family. So it's only natural that many of us develop our friendships in the workplace. Then again, I guess it's only natural that many of us experience friendship failures there too.

Interesting enough, regulating friendships or publishing guidelines for developing and maintaining friendships among members of a workforce has never been considered an employer's responsibility.

So that leaves everything open to personal initiative and personal judgment. The question then is: Should you or shouldn't you develop friendships at work? To what extent and with whom? And then, how do you manage these relationships?

First of all, you have to recognize the work setting is a unique environment. Despite the fact companies try to promote a sense of family, you are really only a colleague with your co-workers. It means your relationships are typically shaped by the common business issues and struggles on which you are working. And more importantly, these work-related goals demand loyalty to the organization rather than to each other.

As well, you probably don't think about the competitiveness that exists between you and your colleagues. Despite the fact you may be at the same occupational level, your colleagues are striving for their own personal attention, rewards, benefits and promotion. And when it comes right down to a choice between your so- called "friendship" and their job, most people will choose survival -- in other words, the job. Finally, remember, the workplace is where you have promised to contribute a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. It's a place where productivity and output is the key to success, so long coffee breaks and endless talking won't be tolerated.

It's also not meant to be an environment where everyone has to put up with your idiosyncrasies like a family or best friend. But workplace friendships are certainly common so let's take a closer look at them.

Workplace friendships can make coming to and being at work more enjoyable and interesting. There's someone to share family news, kids sports, work-related problems and successes. Friends can provide a "friendly" critique of work dreams, intentions and project results. Friends can act as a sounding board, give you feedback and encourage your creativity. And then again, when you need to vent your anger or disagreement, your friendship is often a safe place to do it.

On the other hand, friendships can lead to unspoken alliances, dependence and loyalties that may prevent you from developing a broader base of relationships.

These tight-knit groups or cliques adopt a sense of exclusivity that shuns others and can create negativity in the work environment. Some cliques are so closed they can't even be bothered to say good morning when another colleague walks by their table. This type of friendship instills negativity among other colleagues and eventually might even be your career death knell, so be careful.

Please visit us next month for the conclusion of this article.

Courtesy of Barbara J. Bowes and the Winnipeg Free Press.
Barbara can be reached at barb@bowesgroup.com