Contents:

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

Welcome!

November 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:

October 29, 2003 - Canada Pension Plan pensionable earnings ceiling for 2004 up to $40,500 - The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) announced today that the maximum pensionable earnings under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for 2004 will be $40,500 -- up from $39,900 in 2003. The increase reflects the growth in average weekly wages and salaries in Canada. Contributors who earn more than $40,500 in 2004 are not required or permitted to make additional contributions to the CPP. (Full Story - 187 Words)

October 23, 2003 - Increase in the flat rate meal expense deduction for employees in the transportation sector - National Revenue Minister Elinor Caplan today announced an increase in the flat rate transportation sector employees can use as a deduction for meal expenses on their income tax return. Starting this year, transport employees will be allowed to use the rate of $15 per meal up to a maximum of $45 a day when claiming meal deductions on their tax return. As well, transport employees travelling and incurring meal expenses in the United States may now use the rate of US $15 per meal up to a maximum of US $45 a day, converted to Canadian dollars. (Full Story - 277 Words)

October 20, 2003 - Tax officials provide information visits for small business - Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) officials launched a week of community visits targeted to small business. The information blitz was conducted by representatives from tax services offices (TSO) in every region across the country and was scheduled to coincide with national Small Business Week, which ran from October 20 to October 24. The purpose of these information visits was to ensure that business owners are aware of the information and services available to them from their nearest TSO. (Full Story - 380 Words)

October 3, 2003 - Government of Canada announces Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership program - The Canadian Government today announced the start up of the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program. As a partnership initiative involving Aboriginal groups, major corporate employers, and provincial and territorial governments, ASEP is aimed at securing and increasing Aboriginal participation in large economic developments in and near their communities. ASEP will complement the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy, which has been in place since 1999. (Full Story - 432 Words)

October 1, 2003 - CCRA responds to Canadians affected by Hurricane Juan - The CCRA will readily apply the fairness provisions to help the residents and businesses of Nova Scotia and P.E.I. who have difficulties fulfilling their tax obligations in the aftermath of hurricane Juan. "As we have done in the past, CCRA will continue to provide relief to clients in extraordinary circumstances by giving special consideration to clients who fail to meet their tax obligations because of the hurricane." said Elinor Caplan, Minister of National Revenue. (Full Story - 270 Words)

October 1, 2003 - Canada Savings Bonds Campaign Launched With Introduction of New Bond - John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, announced details of the 2003-2004 Canada Savings Bonds campaign, including terms and conditions for the Canada Savings Bond (CSB), the Canada Premium Bond (CPB) and the new Canada Investment Bond (CIB), which go on sale today, October 1, 2003. About 12,000 firms and organizations across the country sponsor the Payroll Savings Program, enabling their employees to purchase compound interest CSBs through regular payroll deduction. (Full Story - 790 Words)

October 8, 2003 - Funding announced to help information technology (IT) industry - The Government of Canada has announced funding to help information technology (IT) industry identify and adapt to new trends in the labour market. The labour market intelligence being generated by this initiative will give us the first ever comprehensive picture of IT employment in Canada and allow the SHRC to develop effective human resource strategies for the IT work force," said Paul Swinwood, President of the Software Human Resources Council. (Full Story - 385 Words)

Alberta:

October 30, 2003 - Canada Career Week helps Albertans explore career opportunities - Canada Career Week takes place across the province November 2 - 8. The "Find the Work You Love" theme encourages workers to explore career options and create a successful career path. "Canada Career Week is an ideal opportunity for Albertans to plan or re-evaluate their career goals," says Alberta Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford. Canada Career Week is being celebrated across Alberta to promote learning and work with a variety of events, including speakers' forums, career fairs, information displays, and workshops. (Full Story - 329 Words)

October 10, 2003 - New statistics show success of Alberta's Aboriginal workforce - New statistics show how Aboriginal people are contributing to the province's economy. According to the Aboriginal Labour Force Survey by Statistics Canada and the Alberta government, Aboriginal people living off-reserve have a slightly higher labour force participation rate than the overall Alberta rate. In September 2003, 75.5 per cent of the working age population in this group were working or actively looking for work, compared with Alberta's overall rate of 74.2 per cent. (Full Story - 644 Words)

British Columbia:

October 14, 2003 - Removing language barriers leads to employment - British Columbians on income assistance with language barriers can now enrol in the new English as a Second Language (ESL) Training for Jobs Program to assist them in finding and maintaining employment. The program will provide short-term English language instruction, skills training and work experience needed for specific jobs. (Full Story - 248 Words)

October 22, 2003 - WCB and industry launch new StartSafe program - Workers' Compensation Board analysis shows that new small businesses that fail after one year have more than double the injury rate of those who are still registered after five years. To provide newly registered companies with information tailored to the specific occupational health and safety concerns of their industry, the WCB has launched a new program, StartSafe. (Full Story - 577 Words)

Manitoba:

October 3, 2003 - Manitoba Government enters agreement to increase aboriginal employment in customer contact industry - Minister Oscar Lathlin today signed a strategic agreement with the Manitoba Customer Contact Association to promote employment opportunities for Aboriginal people in the industry. Under the agreement, a strategic human resources plan will guide the Manitoba Customer Contact Association as they work closely with the Aboriginal community and individuals. The plan focuses on specific areas including awareness, recruitment, training and retention strategies in addition to identifying potential barriers to employment for Aboriginal people. (Full Story - 330 Words)

New Brunswick:

October 5, 2003 - Unemployment rate drops slightly as national rate remains the same - The unemployment rate dropped slightly in September to stand at 10.7 per cent as compared to August, as the national rate remained the same, Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney reported today. Statistics Canada figures show New Brunswick's unemployment rate stood at 10.7 per cent which was down from August when it stood at 11.1 per cent and it was up slightly from 10.2 as compared to the same time last year. The survey also reported that the labour force was 383,700 and the number of employed was 342,700. (Full Story - 203 Words)

October 23, 2003 - Canadian Survey on Youth Health and Safety in the Workplace - Young workers ask for more information and training about health and safety at work. They confirm that they will use prevention information if provided to them in the workplace. These are the main conclusions of the Ipsos-Reid national survey conducted this summer among 1,018 youths aged 15 to 24 currently in the workforce across Canada. (Full Story - 844 Words)

Newfoundland and Labrador:

October 10, 2003 - Employment continues upward trend - For the ninth consecutive month employment in the province increased on a year over year basis. According to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada employment in Newfoundland and Labrador for the month of September rose to 228,100, an increase of 3.2 per cent or 7,100 jobs, as compared to the same time period last year. Growth was concentrated in the service sector. The unemployment rate stood at 14.1 per cent for the month, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points. The labour force participation rate also experienced an increase of 1.5 percentage points to 60.5 per cent compared to the same time period last year. (Full Story - 229 Words)

Northwest Territories:

October 10, 2003 - Act to Amend the Safety Act Passed - The WCB Minister in the Northwest Territories says changes included in the Bill will work to make NWT work sites safer. Many of the changes included in the Bill were identified directly from the input of northern workers and employers during a year-long legislative review of the Workers Compensation Act of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Bill also more clearly defines a worker and employer, makes allowances for the Chief Safety Officer to issue orders and will require principal contractors or owners to coordinate the activities of all employers when more than one employer is on a work site. (Full Story - 236 Words)

Nova Scotia:

October 16, 2003 - Government Improves Workers' Compensation Act - Amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act introduced today, Oct. 16, will improve access to benefits and services for injured workers, said Environment and Labour Minister Kerry Morash. Two of the key changes proposed for the first year will increase the indexing of pensions from 50 to 55 per cent of the Consumer Price Index, and will implement a process to support workers with chronic pain. (Full Story - 550 Words)

October 30, 2003 - Minister requests disaster criteria for Work Sharing program - Human Resources Development Minister Jane Stewart has requested that the Employment Insurance (EI) Commission apply special disaster criteria to the Work Sharing program to help Halifax businesses affected by a natural disaster. In cases of natural disasters, the EI Commission can be asked to apply special criteria to the Work Sharing program. A clause in the program's guidelines allows for easier access, by waiving criteria such as the average amount of work retained over the course of an agreement and the amount of details required in the recovery plan. (Full Story - 779 Words)

October 29, 2003 - Legislation Introduced to Protect Offshore Workers - The government of Nova Scotia introduced legislation today, Oct. 29, that will help ensure that workers in the offshore oil and gas industry have the same kind of occupational health and safety protections as those onshore. "Nova Scotia takes workplace health and safety seriously, both onshore and offshore, and we are continually looking for ways to improve upon existing laws and regulations," said Environment and Labour Minister Kerry Morash. (Full Story - 450 Words)

Saskatchewan:

October 2, 2003 - Major investment in youth - CIC and Saskatchewan Crown Corporations will invest $20 million over the next five years to create more opportunities for youth and aboriginal participation in the workforce. The most compelling reason for this investment is that, by 2017, more than half of the current Crown employees are likely to retire (a cumulative effect of over 5,000 people). (Full Story - 506 Words)

September 2003 - New action plan to reduce workplace injuries - A renewed commitment to health and safety will mean fewer injuries and illnesses in Saskatchewan workplaces in the future. Saskatchewan Labour today introduced its Action Plan for Healthy and Safe Workplaces, which includes hiring six new Occupational Health Officers to enforce safety standards and to help educate employers and workers on reducing workplace injuries. (Full Story - 332 Words)

Yukon:

October 17, 2003 - Workplace Safety Contest Reaches Hundreds of Young Yukoners - The winners of the third annual Young Worker Safety Contest run by the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board were drawn at Skills Canada Yukon in Whitehorse. The YWCHSB introduced the contest in 2001 to draw attention to the fact that young workers under 25 - particularly males - are at higher risk of workplace injury than other workers. "Young workers are vulnerable because they're inexperienced, they hesitate to ask questions and they often aren't provided the training they need," said Tony Armstrong, president and chief executive officer of the YWCHSB. (Full Story - 450 Words)

The current release of GrandMaster Suite (3.80.06) 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:

• Name and Address Report now includes Employee Default Distribution - The Name and Address report has been modified to include the employee default distribution amount. This change in turn allows you to use the distribution as sort option.
• New EFT file format added - When using the EFT feature, you can now export your data to a generic format that can be used if you require a CPA Standard format. This would apply to most credit unions and trust companies.
• Customized payroll report now includes Position Description - When you print a customized payroll report, the Position Description is now included. Previously, only the position code was being shown.
• Payroll tax not calculating on taxable benefit unless Quebec tax is indicated - The Provincial Health tax would not calculate on the Taxable Benefit if the Federal tax was selected for a benefit while the Quebec tax option was not. This has been changed so that when you have a taxable benefit amount that is not Quebec taxable, the amount will be included in the Provincial Health and Payroll tax for that province. This change applies only to Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario because these provinces are the only ones (other than Quebec) that remit provincial health and payroll taxes.
• Taxable benefits not added to taxable income when calculating extra pay - If you calculated an extra pay, the taxable benefits would not be added to the taxable income when you calculated the Provincial Health on an extra pay run. This has been corrected.
• WCB calculating incorrectly on cross-province workers - If you had an employee who was resident in New Brunswick but worked out of Nova Scotia, the WCB would incorrectly calculate on the New Brunswick rate instead of the Nova Scotia rate. This has been corrected for cases where the WCB province assigned to the employee in the Payroll Specific Information dialog box differs from the employee's tax province.
• Error message sometimes appears when working with employee groups - When you had a group loaded, the program would display an error message when you loaded a new group (but only after you had calculated a pay that was based on the original group). This problem has been corrected.
• WCB amount calculated on vacation pay being allocated to the wrong province - When a payroll consisted of employees who worked in different provinces from their home province and they were paid vacation pay on every pay, the WCB amount that was calculated on the vacation pay paid was allocated to the wrong province. This has been corrected for cases where the WCB province assigned to the employee in the Payroll Specific Information dialog box differs from the employee's tax province.
• Calculation Total Report not displaying WCB and Provincial Health data - When you created the Calculation Total Report, it was not displaying the totals for WCB and Provincial Health. This has been corrected so that the totals for these two items now appear in full.
• New export format has been added for AccPac users - We have added a new export format to support the AccPac Advantage Series 5.1. This new format is similar to the existing AccPac for Windows format except that quotes have been added around the YR and the MTH on the "1" record. Additionally, GL codes do not need to be space filled for this new format.

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

GrandMaster Training Seminars - CanPay will be holding seminars for GrandMaster II and GrandMaster Suite clients, from November 20 to November 28th. Please view the following documents for the date and location of the seminar being presented nearest you. Seating is limited -- please respond now in order to guarantee your place in your preferred training session!
- Training Times and Locations (35KB word document)
- Agenda (37KB Word document)

With the aging of the workforce, retirement is becoming a major issue for workers and labour unions, as well as for employers, human resource professionals and governments. This month's article provides an overview for those who may be considering the various aspects of retirement.

An Important Life Event for Workers
The decision to withdraw from the labour market represents a radical change in the life of any worker. The major part of our life in the labour market is defined by our main productive occupation. During our youth and in the early years of adulthood, we often devote many years to acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to meet the requirements of our occupation - as many as 15, 20, 25 or more years of our young lives. We then spend 25, 30, 40 or more years of our adult life developing our knowledge base and adding to our skills - and, more and more commonly, changing occupations completely. All other activities are structured around that main activity; the time devoted to personal, family and social life must be adjusted to take account of the time devoted to productive activities in the labour market and the income derived from those activities.

The termination of employment often entails a radical change of lifestyle for the last 10, 20, 30 or more years of our life. The range of options available to workers when they retire, as well as the level of financial security and the quality of life we can expect during our retirement years, largely depend on the characteristics of the jobs we had in our working life - whether employment was on a part-time or a full-time basis, whether continuous or temporary, steady or occasional, with or without an employer pension plan.

Retirement Also Important For Employers
For employers, the aging of the workforce is an important matter because of its potential impact on productivity. Employers need to adapt the working environment to an aging workforce. Along with this, they must also be active in transfering knowledge to a new generation of workers.

Private pension plans have both costs and benefits for employers: net (post-income tax) costs associated with plan implementation and management; and benefits associated with the fact that hiring and retaining workers are made easier. Resource management is also made easier thanks to a range of retirement options that can be adapted to the needs of the organization, such as early-retirement incentives that help reduce the workforce and phased-retirement incentives that make it possible to retain an experienced workforce longer in times of labour shortages.

Companies must also adjust to changes in the demand for goods and services that will be induced by the needs of an aging population.

Importance of Planning
Retirement is an important event with financial and psychological consequences for employees, productivity implications for the employer and social implications for governments. Clearly, people should prepare themselves properly and analyze the consequences of the choices that are presented.

Employees should plan their retirement so that they know what they want to do after they retire, the standard of living they wish to maintain, and the benefits and protection they will keep or lose. It is very important to properly analyze the financial impact before deciding whether to retire, as well as before deciding whether to retire before, at or after the normal retirement age, whether to leave work abruptly or gradually, and whether to return to the labour market after retirement. Because the retirement income system is an integrated one, pension amounts are coordinated with one another.

Employers must help their employees to prepare for retirement. It may be important to plan for succession and, depending on the circumstances, to offer attractive alternatives to workers to maintain the desired level of production and to take the greatest possible advantage of the experience accumulated by older workers.

Finally...
The aging of the population and the attendant increase in the number of people who will retire over the coming years, coupled with the growing life expectancy of Canadians, has led to changes in the provisions of the Canada Pension Plan. In 1998, changes were made to ensure the sustainability of funding of the plan, to maintain future contribution rates at a low level and to reinforce the Canadian retirement income system.

Along with these practical changes, governments must also continue to sensitize employers and employees alike to the need to prepare for retirement, promote the availability of a broad range of retirement options to meet the needs of employers and employees, and encourage and facilitate employer pension plans in order to allow the greatest number of workers to maintain their standard of living.