Contents:

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

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Welcome!

July 2004 - 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 3, 2004 - Canada Revenue Agency interest rates for the third calendar quarter - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) today announced the prescribed annual interest rates that will apply to any amounts owed to the CRA and to any amounts the CRA owes to individuals and corporations. These rates are calculated quarterly in accordance with applicable legislation and will be in effect from July 1, 2004, to September 30, 2004. (Full Story - 233 Words)

June 11, 2004 - Tables on Diskette (TOD) - Effective July 1, 2004 - TOD 2004.2.0 (V1.2) - The newest version of the Tables On Diskette (TOD) includes provincial and territorial tax changes for Nova Scotia, Ontario and Northwest Territories only. TOD is a stand-alone computer program that calculates the Canada Pension Plan (CPP); Employment Insurance (EI); and federal, provincial (except Quebec) and territorial tax deductions for all pay periods. (Full Story - 1036 Words)

Alberta:

June 25, 2004 - Enhanced benefits for working families and learners - Thousands more Albertans will benefit from extended medical, dental and optical benefits under changes to programs offered by Alberta Works. Beginning August 1, 2004, 14,000 households with an adult learner who is funded through Alberta Works will be eligible for basic health benefit coverage. The coverage will also be available to the learner's spouse or cohabitating partner and their dependant children who are 18 or 19 years old and attending high school. (Full Story - 272 Words)

June 10, 2004 - Partnership teaches young Albertans about workplace safety - The Job Safety Skills Society (JSSS) has been presented with its official Partnership Certificate by the Alberta government in recognition of its agreement to promote occupational health and safety in Alberta high schools. "Nearly half of all lost time claims filed with the Workers Compensation Board are workers in their first year on the job," said Alberta Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford. (Full Story - 322 Words)

June 4, 2004 - Foreign trained professionals in Calgary can restart their careers - Trades people, accountants, information technology-telecommunication specialists, engineers, electricians and other professionals trained in another country can now receive focused employment coaching so they can get the help they need to find employment in Alberta. The Alberta government will contribute $840,000 over the next two years to help skilled immigrants restart their careers in their field of training. (Full Story - 338 Words)

June 16, 2004 - WCB’s strong financial picture benefits workers and employers - The WCB posted on its website preliminary average premium rates of $1.83 per $100 of insurable earnings for 2005. This is a drop of 7.6% from the rate of $1.98 projected for 2004. The final premium rate for 2005 is set in November. (Full Story - 415 Words)

British Columbia:

June 10, 2004 - Partnership increases jobs for aboriginal people - An innovative partnership between the provincial government, the BC Construction Association (BCCA) and aboriginal organizations will increase job opportunities for aboriginal people in B.C.'s booming construction industry, Minister of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services Murray Coell announced today. As part of the partnership, the BCCA will identify future job opportunities in construction so aboriginal organizations can better match training programs to upcoming employment trends in the sector. (Full Story - 480 Words)

New Brunswick:

June 4, 2004 - Record numbers working, over 15,000 more employed than at same time last year - There were 15,200 more New Brunswickers working in May as compared to the same month last year, which resulted in the largest number of New Brunswickers ever employed in the province, Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney reported today. "To experience these two significant records in one labour survey is an indication that the government's continued focus of creating long-term employment plans for our unemployed clients is working and contributing to our province's economy. (Full Story - 339 Words)

Newfoundland and Labrador:

June 11, 2004 - Minister reports on employment initiatives and opportunities for province’s youth - Human Resources, Labour and Employment Minister Joan Burke, said her department is moving forward with several programs to assist young people in obtaining meaningful employment opportunities during the summer months and in the year ahead. $1.5 million is provided for SWASP. In addition to the creation of student employment positions, eligible employers receive a wage subsidy for payment to students and students receive a $50 per week tuition voucher towards the cost of post-secondary education. (Full Story - 389 Words)

Ontario:

June 14, 2004 - WSIB: How Safe is Your Job? - The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) today launched its sixth annual Young Worker Awareness Campaign. WSIB studies show that young workers under the age of 25 are 24 per cent more likely to be injured per hour worked than their older counterparts. In 2003, over 47,000 youth were hurt on the job, with more than 13,500 young workers injured seriously enough to require time off work. (Full Story - 400 Words)

June 10, 2004 - Minister's action group to move quickly on employment standards issues - The McGuinty government is moving quickly to protect vulnerable workers and provide better enforcement of the province's employment standards laws by moving forward with the Minister's Employment Standards Action Group, Labour Minister Chris Bentley announced today. Working in conjunction with stakeholders representing both employers and employees, members of the action group will identify gaps in current operations, encourage innovative ideas, maintain fair workplaces, and foster compliance with employment standards legislation. (Full Story - 241 Words)

June 16, 2004 - Audit provides solid foundation for renewed workplace safety and insurance board - An independent audit of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) released today provides a solid foundation for revitalizing the agency so it better meets the needs of injured workers and employers, said Labour Minister Chris Bentley. The audit addresses a number of concerns raised by both injured workers and employer groups. The audit's recommendations provide a solid foundation to renew the WSIB and to ensure employer premiums are used efficiently on programs that benefit workers. (Full Story - 293 Words)

Saskatchewan:

June 18, 2004 - Saskatchewan reviewing minimum wage - Saskatchewan's Minimum Wage Board is reviewing the province's minimum wage. Board chairperson John Yeo said the review is being undertaken because the provincial minimum wage has not been reviewed in almost two years. Saskatchewan's minimum wage has been set at $6.65 an hour since November 1st, 2002. (Full Story - 193 Words)

June 18, 2004 - Legislation allows WCB to collect critical information - Delays in getting critical information, including social-insurance and provincial-health numbers, birthdates, and addresses, can delay the WCB's decision to accept or deny injury claims. The WCB's authority to collect this information rests with the Workers' Compensation Act but complies with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act within Saskatchewan. In addition, the WCB is exempt from the consent requirement in the Canadian government's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act as the WCB collects information where it is mandated/required by law (i.e. the Workers' Compensation Act). (Full Story - 490 Words)

The mid-year release of GrandMaster Suite (4.00.00) 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:

• Improved password protection - We have improved the level of security for your payrolls by placing more restrictions on the types of users that can access passwords.
• New export format has been added for Jonas Accounting System - We have added a new Journal Entry export format to support the Jonas Accounting system. The new format can be accessed via the Export tab's Format list in the Journal Entry dialog box.
• Program not saving Provincial Tax settings for Quebec Employees - If your payroll included a Quebec employee who did not pay federal or provincial tax, the program would allow you to change the settings to " No Federal" and "No Provincial" tax but would only save the Federal setting. This has been corrected so that the calculation excludes both federal and provincial taxes as requested.
• Name and Address report outputs to printer when Print to Screen is chosen - When you specified the Print to Screen option then printed the Name and Address report, the resulting output would be sent to the current printer device instead of the screen as you requested. This has been corrected.
• Adjusted deletion message for various items - Under certain circumstances, when you chose to delete a payroll, group or other item, the resulting message prompt would appear without any text in the message box. This would cause confusion since you would not know the reason the message was being displayed. We have adjusted the program so that the correct text appears in all cases. The text should read "This action cannot be undone. Do you wish to continue?"
• TD1 amounts not correct when adding employees through HR module - If you added an employee to the payroll database while in the HR module, the employee's TD1 amount would be indexed incorrectly. This has been corrected so that the amounts are correct regardless of the active module when the employee is being added.
  

• • •

July Updates - As per the announcement by the CRA, there are no federal tax changes required for July 1, 2004. However, the mid-year update does include a number of fixes along with the provincial changes have been announced for July 1, 2004. These include tax rate changes for Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories. For Ontario employees, the tax calculations will include the new Ontario Health Premium.

See the What's New for July 1, 2004 section of the Payroll Deductions Formulas for Computer Programs guide included on the GrandMaster Suite CD-ROM for all the details. It is important to install this update. Although no federal tax changes have occurred, this update includes important changes that will affect your 2004 year-end procedures!

Did you know that the CRA has announced a new pilot project, effective June 6, 2004, that will provide an additional 5 weeks of regular benefits payable to workers that have few employment alternatives? The month's article provides a basic description of the project and its entitlements.

For Qualified Applicants

The purpose of the pilot project is to provide additional regular benefits to certain workers who have few employment alternatives. These workers include part-time and seasonal workers with short employment periods. Because of the nature of their jobs, these workers face situations where their EI benefits end before they are able to find new employment.

This pilot project will last 2 years and will provide an additional 5 weeks of regular benefits to these workers. The project applies to qualifying applicants whose claim for regular benefits begins between June 6, 2004 and June 4, 2006 and who live in one of the 24 participating EI economic regions (see below). New claims starting after June 4, 2006 will not be eligible for the additional weeks of benefits under this program nor will the increase apply to fishing, maternity, parental, sickness or compassionate care benefits.

Other Government goals for the pilot include an analysis of the project's effect on participants and on the labour market. The Government will also be examining existing EI program work incentives such as the "small weeks" program. The project also aims to improve the responsiveness of the EI program to the employment challenges faced by workers employed in part-time, seasonal, and other non-standard employment.

Participating EI Economic Regions

The pilot project will be tested in the economic regions where the unemployment rate was 10% or more in at least one month during the 6-month period ending May 8, 2004. This includes the following areas:

Benefit Duration

During the pilot project, regular benefits can be paid from 14 to a maximum of 45 weeks. The number of benefit weeks is determined at the time the claim for benefits starts, based on the unemployment rate in the claimant's region and the number of insurable hours the claimant has accumulated in the qualifying period.

For example, Joe lives in the Eastern Nova Scotia region, has accumulates 560 hours of work and his claim starts on June 6, 2004 (with an unemployment rate set at 16.8%). In this case, Joe would be eligible for the extra 5 weeks of benefits because he lives in a participating EI economic region for the pilot project. Under the pilot project, Joe would be entitled to 39 weeks (previously, the maximum number payable weeks was 34).

For more information on this new pilot project, contact your nearest HRSDC office or visit their website at http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca.