Contents:

Welcome
Upcoming Events
What's New
GrandMaster Updates

Welcome!

July 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:

June 20, 2003 - CCRA lowers the penalties on late payroll remittances - The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) announced today that it will be lowering the penalties for employers who voluntarily pay their payroll remittances, but are a few days late. Starting in July, the CCRA will implement graduated penalty rates replacing the current flat penalty rate of 10%. (Full Story - 328 Words)

June 13, 2003 - Annual CPP report says financially sound, service-oriented and low-cost - Improved service and low administrative costs are among the highlights of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) discussed in the 2001-2002 Annual Report of the Canada Pension Plan. The Report also notes that the latest CPP actuarial report finds the Plan to be financially sound and projects that it will continue to be so in the future. (Full Story - 422 Words)

June 3, 2003 - Temporary Fisheries Income (TFI) program implemented - The TFI program for fishers and plant workers who have exhausted their Employment Insurance (EI) benefits following the closure of certain cod fisheries (see the link below). The program, in place from April 27 to September 6, 2003, will provide financial assistance for a period of up to 12 consecutive weeks to eligible individuals, most of whom live in remote communities where there are few other job opportunities. (Full Story - 1763 Words)

June 13, 2003 - CPP amendments will provide automatic reinstatement for disability beneficiaries - The HRDC announced that they will introduce automatic reinstatement of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits, if beneficiaries fail at return-to-work attempts. Over the last few years, CPP Disability has taken a number of steps to improve support for beneficiaries trying to return to work, including vocational rehabilitation, encouraging volunteer work and education, and setting an "allowable earnings" threshold. (Full Story - 410 Words)

June 30, 2003 - Government improves EI by amending Small Weeks - The Government of Canada is making amendments to improve Employment Insurance (EI) for seasonal and part-time workers. The HRDC today announced that the Employment Insurance regulation governing "small weeks" would be amended to increase the Small Week threshold to $225 from $150. This change will be implemented nationally on September 7, 2003, and comes as a result of the Government of Canada's continuous efforts to improve the EI program. (Full Story - 899 Words)

Alberta:

June 12, 2003 - Alberta government to help workers laid off due to BSE - Workers laid off in Alberta due to the incident of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) who qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) will be able to access job-related training and a relief grant immediately upon layoff. Workers must be EI-eligible to participate and must attend a job-related training session that will be offered either at their workplace, a training college, or through a contracted provider. (Full Story - 775 Words)

May 22 , 2003 - Reducing Premiums One Injury at a Time - Over 3,700 Alberta companies earned $37 million in rebates by investing in safety during the 2002 Partners in Injury Reduction (PIR) program. One company earned a PIR refund of almost $1 million. Last year, 154,474 claims were reported to the WCB - 40,100 of these were lost-time claims. This meant a decrease in lost-time claims over the previous year even though there was a three per cent increase in the number of workers covered by the WCB. (Full Story - 482 Words)

British Columbia:

June 19, 2003 - WCB funds to prevent injuries to health care workers - The Workers' Compensation Board today presented the Interior Health Authority with a cheque for $329,000 to help fund the purchase of ceiling lifts and other transfer assist devices, as well as staff training and education and program delivery. Total funding for the project will total $994,580 and be paid out over the next two years. (Full Story - 1,110 Words)

June 27, 2003 - Firefighters want WCB to recognize work-related cancers - The BC Workers’ Compensation Board has been asked to examine a request that firefighters who develop certain cancers be presumed to have contracted them through work, said Labour Minister Graham Bruce. "Clearly the firefighters strongly believe their concerns about work-related cancers should be recognized by the WCB," said Bruce, "and I believe they should have an opportunity to meet with the WCB." (Full Story - 346 Words)

Manitoba:

June 16, 2003 - Joint Initiative to Raise Awareness of Need for Safety Culture in Manitoba - The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) and Manitoba's Workplace Safety and Health Division (WSHD) launched a major SAFE Work campaign today, to draw attention to the need to prevent workplace injuries and deaths and develop a culture of safety in Manitoba. The joint prevention initiative grew out of 62 recommendations of the Minister of Labour's Review Committee on Workplace Safety and Health. (Full Story - 565 Words)

Newfoundland and Labrador:

June 6 , 2003 - Labour Force Survey reports further growth in employment - Employment in Newfoundland and Labrador showed further growth in May according to the latest release of the Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. Employment in May climbed to 220,500, a gain of 4,000 or 1.8 per cent over May 2002 and the unemployment rate declined by 0.9 percentage points on a year-over-year basis to stand at 17.6 per cent for May 2003. (Full Story - 346 Words)

Northwest Territories:

June 12, 2003 - WCB Decision Regarding Environmental Tobacco Smoke - The Workers’ Compensation Board of the NWT and Nunavut made further announcements today, regarding the February 27, 2003 decision to develop a strategy to prevent and control workers’ exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in the workplace. (Full Story - 215 Words)

Nova Scotia:

June 12, 2003 - Tax Relief on the Way for Nova Scotians - The first part of the Nova Scotia government's lower taxes program kicks in on Monday, June 16, when close to 448,000 Nova Scotians will be eligible for a $155 taxpayer refund. The second part of the lower taxes initiative begins Jan. 1, 2004, when income tax rates will be reduced by 10 per cent. Nova Scotians will see the tax relief through lower deductions on their paycheques. As a result, Nova Scotia will offer the lowest personal income tax rates in Atlantic Canada. (Full Story - 535 Words)

Ontario:

June 25, 2003 - Government of Canada announces Work Sharing agreements - The Government of Canada is responding to the needs of Toronto businesses. The Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development, today announced funding totalling $961,129 for 11 Work Sharing agreements with the hotel industry affected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) situation in Toronto. These agreements have helped avert 138 layoffs and involve 410 employees. (Full Story - 1291 Words)

June 5, 2003 - Employment Assistance Services to persons with disabilities - The Honourable Diane Marleau today announced funding to help persons with disabilities access the labour market. The Rehabilitation Foundation for the Disabled project will target unemployed people with disabilities, helping them to prepare for and return to work. This project is being funded through Human Resources Development Canada's Employment Assistance Services, a support measure of the Employment Insurance (EI) Act. (Full Story - 290 Words)

June 13, 2003 - Eves Government Acts to Compensate People Affected by SARS - The Ernie Eves government is acting to provide financial assistance to employed individuals who were isolated, sick or gave care to someone isolated due to SARS. The SARS Assistance Program can provide eligible individuals an isolation payment of $500, or more if their income loss was greater than this amount. Those who received partial payment from their employer or other sources such as Employment Insurance may be eligible for additional assistance towards their lost income. (Full Story - 270 Words)

June 16, 2003 - WSIB Launches Youth Safety Awareness Campaign - The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) launched its fifth annual Safety Awareness Campaign aimed at young workers on June 16. Throughout the summer right up until Labour Day, the WSIB is getting out the message about workplace safety rights and responsibilities to young workers and their parents and employers. (Full Story - 487 Words)

Saskatchewan:

June 13, 2003 - Government of Canada signs Work Sharing agreements - The Government of Canada's Work Sharing program is responding to the needs of Saskatchewan. The Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development, today announced funding totalling $2,865,917 for Work Sharing agreements with various industries in Saskatchewan to help them in these difficult times. (Full Story - 1997 Words)

Yukon:

June 25, 2003 - Workers Compensation Act review moves into next stage - The panel reviewing the Workers’ Compensation Act is entering the next stage of its job. It’s gathered close to 100 issues that it will examine over the coming months. The panel’s mandate is to review the Act and present options for change to Peter Jenkins, the Minister responsible for the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health & Safety Board. The next step is to give everyone the opportunity to comment on these topics. People have until July 25 to provide their positions and points of view. (Full Story - 373 Words)

June 10, 2003 - New Yukon Construction Safety Association to Promote Safe Workplaces - The Yukon Contractors' Association and the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board (YWCHSB) have signed an agreement on a pilot project to create a new Yukon Construction Safety Association. The association will, among other things, promote public awareness of occupational health and safety, develop health and safety programs, help employers implement those programs, and work to increase the number of workers covered by the health and safety programs. (Full Story - 298 Words)

The current release of GrandMaster Suite (3.80.00) 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:

• Employee Turnover Report now includes employee Names - When you export the Employee Turnover Report you can now see the employee names along with the totals. Previously, only the totals were displayed.
• Employee Turnover Report can now be exported in .CSV format - You can now export the Employee Turnover Report in the .CSV (comma separated values) format. This feature includes a new tab (entitled Export) that appears in the Employee Turnover Report dialog box. This tab allows you to define the required field positions for the export file.
• Employee Turnover Report now includes option for Printing New Hires Only - The Employee Turnover Report now includes an option that allows you to display only the new hires. The option is located in the Employee Turnover Report's Output tab. The new check box (entitled Print New Hires Only) works in conjunction with the original "Print New Hires" checkbox. Since both boxes need to be selected at the same time, selecting the "only" option will automatically check the both boxes for you.
• History Rewrite utility now breaks down data by province - The History Rewrite utility has been modified so that it summarizes the WCB and Provincial Health transactions more accurately by province. Previously, the utility would report the data in a grouped amount rather than breaking it down by province.
• Better tracking of employee WCB data - The program now tracks each employees WCB data more efficiently. The main change is that your WCB codes (one of a possible nine codes) are now written to your payroll history data file. This new method includes the enhanced storage of each employee's assessable WCB data. To take advantage of this enhancement and to achieve better data storage, you need to run the History Rewrite utility (accessible from the Administration module's Utilities menu). This will ensure that your WCB reporting will more accurately reflect your data. Please contact CanPay Technical Support before running this or any other utility program.
• Import/Export functions now support current statutory deductions - When performing an Import/export function, you now have the option of importing current statutory deductions and benefits. This can be useful if you need to import tax deductions on bonuses.
• WCB YTD's now include the Reversal amounts - If you performed a reverse pay, the program was not reversing the WCB assessable amount. This would cause a subsequent WCB Report to show incorrect values for the assessable amount. The WCB amounts is now processed correctly.

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

When entering into a working relationship, it is important for both parties to know whether they are in an employer-employee relationship or a business relationship. One reason is that a payer's or a worker's responsibilities are different according to the type of employment relationship that exists. Additionally, if the type of employment relationship is not correctly established from the beginning, there may be consequences for the payer and the worker.

This month's article provides the first part of an overview of the four factors that must be examined when determining if an employer-employee relationship exists or if it is a business relationship.

Four Basic Factors
To determine if a worker is an employee or a self-employed individual, and thus if there is an employer-employee relationship or a business relationship, you have to examine and analyze the terms and conditions of the worker's employment as they relate to the following four factors:

1) Control
2) Ownership of Tools
3) Chance of Profit/Risk of Loss
4) Integration.

Control
This factor is considered the most important in relation to the terms and conditions of employment. In an employer-employee relationship, the employer usually has the right to decide where, when, and how the work will be done. In cases where the employer does not directly control the worker's activities, but has the right to do so, the notion of control still exists.

Further, the employer exercises control if he has the right to hire or fire, determines the wage or salary to be paid, and decides on the time, place, and manner in which the work is to be done. Specifically, the payer may control the employee's work hours, assessment of work quality, the worker's periodic activity reports, the list of clients and the territory covered as well as employee training and development.

In a business relationship, however, the employer does not usually exercise control over the worker's activities. The worker can decide how the work will be performed.

Ownership of Tools
In an employer-employee relationship, the employer generally supplies the equipment and tools required by the employee. In addition, the employer covers the following costs related to their use: repairs, insurance, transport, rental, and operation (e.g., fuel). The main points to consider are the amount invested; the value of equipment and tools; and the rental and maintenance of equipment and tools.

In certain trades, however, it is customary for employees to supply their own tools. This is generally the case for garage mechanics, painters, and carpenters. Similarly, employed computer scientists, architects, and surveyors sometimes supply their own softwares and instruments.

In a business relationship, workers generally supply their own equipment and tools and cover costs related to their use. When workers purchase or rent equipment or large tools that require a major investment and costly maintenance, it usually indicates that they are self-employed individuals, because they may incur losses when replacing or repairing their equipment.

Next Month...
Please watch for next month's article will discuss the two remaining factors; Chance of Profit/Risk of Loss and Integration.