Contents:

• Welcome
• What's New
• GrandMaster Update

Welcome!

September 2005 - 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.

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:

August 1, 2005 - CRA now responsible for collecting debts owed to programs of HRSDC and Social Development Canada - Effective August 1, 2005, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has become responsible for the collections activities previously carried out by Social Development Canada (SDC). This means that the CRA now has responsibility and accountability for the collection of debts owed to programs of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and SDC, including debts incurred through Canada Student Loans, Employment Insurance, Employment Programs, Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security. (Full Story)

August 15, 2005 - My EI Information on-line now available in additional provinces - Effective August 15, 2005, residents of British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Manitoba, Alberta, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and North West Territories will also have access to the new service “My EI Information on-line”. This service allows you to view your current EI claim information, including payment and deduction details. You can also view and update your mailing address, telephone number and banking information for direct deposit. It is simple, fast, convenient and secure. (Full Story)

August 2005 - Ten-Year Labor Market Outlook Report Released - The HRSDC has released "Looking Ahead: A Ten-Year Outlook for the Canadian Labour Market, 2004-2013". This report reviews developments in the Canadian labour market over the 1987-2003 period and presents an outlook of labour demand and supply in Canada by industry, skill level and occupation for the 2004-2013 period. (Full Story)

July 2005 - New User Requirements for ROE Web Available - The HRSDC has announced that the user requirements for the 53 week ROE format are now on-line. These requirements are for the new version of ROE Web which will be implemented in the Fall of 2005. (Full Story)

July 2005 - Information on the Best 14 weeks pilot project is available - Useful for employers, the information on the "Best 14 weeks" pilot project is now available. These three new Employment Insurance (EI) pilot projects are aimed at improving the EI Program for claimants residing in 23 EI economic regions. Two of these pilots will probably be implemented in late fall of 2005. (Full Story)

July 2005 - Youth Link offers tools and information on training, employment and careers - The Youth Link publication offers people between the ages of 15 and 30 tools and information on training, employment and careers. It can help in making the transition from school to work and provides provides an array of resources to help people acquire the skills and experience needed to reach their career goals. (Full Story)

Alberta:

August 18, 2005 - Public asked for input on Alberta's employment standards - Albertans have the opportunity to help shape Alberta's employment standards laws. The government is asking for public input into the review of Alberta's Employment Standards Code and Regulation. Employment standards legislation establishes the minimum standards of employment for workers and employers such as: hours of work, overtime, minimum wage, vacations, general holiday pay, maternity and parental leave. Employers and employees may agree to terms and conditions that exceed these minimums. (Full Story)

August 15, 2005 - Work Safe Alberta reminds Albertans not to make "stupid" decisions at work - A new public awareness campaign has been launched to remind working Albertans that anybody can get injured or killed in just a few seconds. "Anybody who loses focus for a moment is at risk of making a mistake on the job," said Human Resources and Employment Minister Mike Cardinal. Based on extensive research and testing, the first stage of this campaign reminds workers not to do anything "stupid" that could have lasting consequences. (Full Story)

July 12, 2005 - Government of Canada funds 18 Skills Link projects in Alberta - The Honourable Belinda Stronach, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, today announced funding for 18 projects targeted to help more than 2,000 young people in Alberta. The funding, totalling $5,574,551, is intended to help participants make a successful transition to the workplace. (Full Story)

July 2005 - Assisting Employers with Business Planning - 2006 Forecast Premium Rates - The Alberta WCB produces forecast premium rates to help employers plan their business and budgets for the upcoming year. These rates are based on financial assumptions from May 2005. Key financial assumptions include early indications on the growth in the Alberta workforce, rate of inflation, investment performance, and trends in the number of claims, costs and duration. (Full Story)

British Columbia:

August 17, 2005 - The Government of Canada announces funding for a Community Coordinator-Skills Development project - The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Vancouver South, on behalf of Belinda Stronach, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, today announced funding of $7 million for a Community Coordinator-Skills Development project targeted to help more than 650 unemployed individuals in the city of Kamloops and surrounding area. The organization that will receive this funding is the Community Futures Development Corporation of Thompson Country. (Full Story)

August 8, 2005 - WorkSafeBC projects decrease in overall premium rate for 2006 - The B.C. Workers' Compensation Board is proposing a 3.5 percent decrease in the overall premium rate for 2006. The reduction reflects recent years' trends of stable injury rates, lower duration of injuries, and the success of the WorkSafe initiative -- the shared commitment of employers, workers and WorkSafeBC to prevent injuries, diseases and fatalities from occurring. (Full Story)

July 2005 - Important Information for Employers about the Employment Standards Self-Help Kit - Beginning in July 2002, the Employment Standards Branch implemented a new complaint resolution process. These changes give employees and employers tools and information to solve problems without direct government intervention. Employees who feel they have an employment standards problem are now required to use the Employment Standards Self-Help Kit. (Full Story)

Manitoba:

August 2005 - If you are a Manitoba employer looking for information on wage rates, labour relations, Workers' Compensation and more, visit the Government of Manitoba's Workforce: Employment Standards Codes webpage. You will find a host of information on a variety of employer-related topics including CPP and EI rates for the currrent year. (Full Story)

New Brunswick:

August 5, 2005- N.B. unemployment rate stays in single digits - The unemployment rate held steady for the month of July at 9.7 per cent as the result of increases in the labour force and the number of working New Brunswickers, Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney reported today. Statistics Canada figures showed last month that the number of employed persons in New Brunswick was 349,500 as compared to 348,400 in June. The survey also reported that the labour force for July grew by 900 to stand at 386,900 as compared to 386,000 the previous month. (Full Story)

August 2005- About the Employment Standards Branch - Looking for information on minimum wage, overtime pay, vacations with pay, and sick leave? Visit the New Brunswick Employment Standards Branch website -- this site is dedicated in providing services to New Brunswick employers and employees toward support in a fair and equitable workplace practices. Their mission is to promote, oversee and enforce the application of the Employment Standards Act in New Brunswick. (Full Story)

Newfoundland and Labrador:

August 31, 2005 - Decrease of federal employment presence a disturbing trend - Federal government employment presence in the province decreased by 39 per cent between 1990 and 2004, compared to a decrease by 18 per cent across all provinces. "If Newfoundland and Labrador had experienced the same rate of decrease of 18 per cent of federal employment presence, in 2004 there would have been an additional 2,774 people working in the federal public service in our province," said Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan. "When you also consider the various spinoffs from this employment, it would have easily translated into a total of 5,300 additional jobs for Newfoundland and Labrador." (Full Story)

Northwest Territories:

August 2005 - The WCB Policy Manual Online- The WCB oversees the laws that protects workers in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The 7-person board is responsible for administering the policies of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Workers’ Compensation Acts. Employers who are interested in the details of this act are encouraged to visit the WCB Policy Manual page where the individual details can be viewed. (Full Story)

Nova Scotia:

August 4, 2005 - Workers' Advisers Program Moves Office - The Workers' Advisers Program is moving its office to 5670 Spring Garden Rd., Halifax, effective Monday, Aug. 8. The Workers' Advisers Program is an independent agency that advises, assists, and represents injured workers who have been denied benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act. (Full Story)

July 29, 2005 - Workers' Compensation Board Appointments Made - New directors appointed to the Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia will help the board improve and maintain accountability and ensure the system is responsive to the stakeholders it serves. The six new members bring with them diverse knowledge and experience from all across this province. The six positions include three employer representatives and three employee representatives. (Full Story)

Ontario:

July 20, 2005 - The Government of Canada funds an Employment Resource Centre for unemployed individuals - The Honourable John McKay, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for Scarborough–Guildwood, on behalf of Belinda Stronach , Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, today announced funding of $495,958 for an Employment Assistance Services project to help unemployed individuals in Scarborough, Ontario. The Progress Career Planning Institute will receive this funding. (Full Story)

July 21, 2005 - WSIB Releases Preliminary Average Premium Rate For 2006 - The Board of Directors of Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has set the 2006 preliminary average premium rate, approved a funding framework and changes to the WSIB's Experience Rating Programs. The 2006 preliminary average premium rate has been set at $2.26 for every $100 of insurable earnings. This is an increase of 3 per cent from the 2005 premium rate which is $2.19. (Full Story)

July 12, 2005 - Labour Minister Urges Employers And Parents To Be Vigilant, Students To Be Safe On The Job - Employers, parents and young workers must show increased vigilance, as student workers are most likely to be hurt during their first month on the job, Labour Minister Steve Peters said today. Ministry of Labour inspectors are now focusing on sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that require employers to give young and new workers the information, instruction and supervision needed to work safely. (Full Story)

Prince Edward Island:

August 18, 2005 - Progressive tax rebate program helps island companies create 171 jobs - Minister of Development and Technology Michael Currie is pleased to announce the creation of 171 jobs since the implementation of the Government of Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) new Progressive Tax Rebate Program in Spring 2005. The four measures comprising the Progressive Tax Rebate Program are designed to stimulate investment and business growth in PEI. The tax credits are available to companies and individuals who have obtained pre-approval. Prince Edward Island Business Development and Technology PEI are responsible for issuing approvals. (Full Story)

August 2005 - New Policy Insider Includes Changes to WCB Act - The latest issue of the PEI Policy Insider to provide you with important information related to policies at the Workers Compensation Board. This issue contains notations regarding changes to the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal, Executive Limitations, Treatment of Clients, Board Members' Code of Conduct, Self-Insured Employer-Administration Fee and Pension Replacement Benefits, to name several. (Full Story - PDF Format)

July 5, 2005 - Government provides four-month working layoff notice to employees - The PEI Government is giving a four-month layoff notice to 330 employees. The notice follows the notification of “affected” status to employees who are in positions affected by reorganization efforts currently underway in Government departments. As the reorganization process unfolds, many employees who receive layoff notice will secure employment, as competitions are already underway for new or existing vacant positions in the reorganized government departmental structures. (Full Story)

Saskatchewan:

August 29, 2005 - Minimum Wage Increase Set for September 1 - Saskatchewan's minimum wage will go up 40 cents an hour, to $7.05 an hour, on Thursday, September 1st. "This is the first increase in the minimum wage since November of 2002," Labour Minister Deb Higgins said. The minimum wage increase was first announced June 22nd as part of a three-step process that will see the minimum wage increase to $7.55 an hour on March 1st, 2006 and to $7.95 an hour on March 1st, 2007. (Full Story)

August 5, 2005 - Record-Setting Job Number in July - Saskatchewan's record-breaking job performance continues. New figures indicate July 2005 is the highest on record for people working in the province for the month of July. This is the 16th straight month of record job growth for Saskatchewan. Statistics Canada figures out today show 496,800 people employed in Saskatchewan last month (seasonally unadjusted figure). That beats the old July record (set just last year) by 6,700. (Full Story)

July 27, 2005 - New compensation plans approved for management and professional government employees - The provincial government has approved new compensation plans for senior executives and other non-union management and professional employees in executive government. "These changes are critical for recruitment and retention for the future," Minister responsible for the Public Service Commission Pat Atkinson said. Currently, salaries for out-of-scope employees in the Saskatchewan public service lag the market for similar management employees in the public and private sectors in Saskatchewan and Western Canada. (Full Story)

Yukon:

August 18, 2005 - Board Hires New President & CEO - The Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board (YWCHSB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Valerie Royle as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. The appointment takes effect October 3. Ms. Royle has held senior positions with the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador since 1993. (Full Story - PDF Format)

July 19, 2005 - Board Tackles Claims Costs; Establishes Prevention Fund - The Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board (YWCHSB)’s annual report and financial results show both improvements and causes for concern in 2004. The YWCHSB’s operating deficit has declined in the last three years – from $24.5 million in 2002 to $9.4 million in 2003 to $6.8 million in 2004. (Full Story - PDF Format)

The upcoming release of GrandMaster Suite (4.10.02) will incorporate a number of changes to make it even easier to use the program and perform your payroll tasks. Pending program changes since our last Payroll News issue include:

• New calculation method added for pension plan deduction/benefits - We have added a new calculation method (Code 133) that may be used to calculate pension-related deduction/benefits. The formula is based upon the YMPE and may be capped to a maximum YTD earning amount.
• Employee earning units decimal places increased - The employee earning update has been modified to allow you to enter preset units (hours) up to a maximum of 4-decimal places. Prior to this change the units were restricted to 2-decimal places. The increase in decimal places will help those who require more precise unit allocations.
• Negative hours and amounts are not displayed properly - When you viewed employee information in the Results, View Pay History or the Employee Profile (HR) dialog boxes you would find that negative values for hours or amounts would be displayed as positive figures. This display problem was related to the list boxes that showed the employee earning and accumulator data. This release corrects this display problem.
• Error encountered when re-loading the default EFT statement form - If you found the need to re-load the default EFT Statement form within the EFT Statement Report dialog box, you would encounter an error. The error was related to a process that was not present in the EFT Statement Report and has been corrected with this release.
• Customized Payroll Report results in an Inconsistent Paymast error - When you defined a Customized Payroll Report to report employee data including terminated employees, in some cases an inconsistent paymast error would occur. This problem was isolated to users with multiple payrolls. This release has addressed and corrected this issue.
• Cannot save Position selection in Deduction/Accumulator Update - In some instances the Deduction and Accumulator Update dialog boxes would not save the positions selected from the Selects tab options. This problem would only effect selected positions beyond the first 100 positions within the provided list. The number of positions available for selection has been increased from the prior maximum of 100 to 1000.
• Hours Entry setting focus to top of list - When you enter the Hours Entry dialog box the focus would be set to the top entry in the list. This would cause inconvenience if you had a significant amount of data entry, as you would need to scroll to the bottom of the list in order to see the last entry. We have corrected this problem with this release. Upon entering the Hours Entry dialog the focus will be set to the blank line below your last line of data entry.
• Unable to process a zero pay period override to WCB or Provincial Health - In some instances, you may need to override the benefit calculation to zero for an employee. However, prior to this release, the Pay Period Override process would not allow a transaction for a zero amounts to the WCB or Provincial Health benefit. This has been changed with this release. You may now enter and process an override for a zero amount.
• Customized Payroll Report export file missing column header titles - When you created an export file from Customized Payroll Report that includes the column headers, the resulting file would not contain the header for the Taxable Income amounts. This has been corrected with this release.
• Pay Statement cheque date format incorrect - When we made the program change (v4.10.00) to meet the new CPA Standard for cheque dates we were premature. This change by the CPA is not in effect until December 2006 and there were problems with those who export their statement data to a third party software to produce the pay statements. Therefore, we have made a change to the report to ensure that the new standard does not take effect until the December 2006. With this release the original methods for printing the cheque date will be available.
• Bonus Tax calculation incorrectly processes accumulator payout - If you used Hours Entry to pay out amounts from an accumulator to an earning set to use the Bonus Tax Calculation, you would find that the tax calculated would vary from the tax calculated when you entered the payout transaction in the Payout Accumulator. This problem has been corrected with this release.
• Employee data from prior year included in Customized Payroll Report - A Customized Payroll Report defined to report current year's YTD data would include terminated employee YTD information from the prior year. This problem would skew your totals and caused problems when trying to balance to other reports. We have corrected this problem with this release.
• Hours Entry will not save edits to imported data - In some cases, the Hours Entry process would not accept edits to the Distributions after you had imported the employee time data. This problem has been corrected with this release.
• Provincial Health adjustments or override amounts not processed - Adjustment or override amounts to the Provincial Health benefit were disregarded during the calculation. For example, if you had entered a Pay Period Adjustment or Override amount to the Provincial Health benefit of $250.00 the calculation would ignore this and process the calculated benefit. This would cause inconvenience when you needed to adjust the benefit amounts. We have corrected this problem with this release.
• Employee current hours and amounts not on pay stubs - Under certain circumstances the employee pay stub did not show the employees hours or amounts. When this occurred the stub would only show the employee YTD values. This problem has been corrected with this release.
• Shift Time Entry does not accept edits to existing entries - The Shift Time Entry (Time Keeping) dialog box would not accept edits to existing entries when you were entering by day only. This problem was not affecting those who used full date entry. It has been corrected with this release.
  

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Visit CanPay's News page and view the latest Release Notes for a complete listing of program changes.

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Organizational conflict spells trouble, but it can be avoided
By Barbara Bowes

But, what does organizational conflict look like? How will you know it when you see it?

Peter Bishop, an Ottawa-based mediation consultant, categorizes conflict into three progressive levels: suppressed, open and dispute. He goes further to indicate that each level of conflict has its own price tag.

Suppressed conflict
Suppressed conflict occurs when an individual is unhappy but does not complain. Conflict is thus avoided by suppressing anger, but in actual fact, it simply simmers away silently ready to explode at any time. This creates tension and resistant behaviour.

This style of conflict can be recognized by observing an individual over time. Look for signs of anxiety, stress, loss of motivation, dissatisfaction at work or psychological illness.

Take note also of problems at home between children and/or a spouse.

From a cost perspective, suppressed conflict generally impacts mostly on the individual, but you will begin to see a loss of productivity and perhaps attendance in the early stages. As the internal conflict progresses, the negative impact of productivity on an organization can reach up to 160 per cent of an employee's annual salary.

Open conflict
In this situation, there is open disagreement, potshots, passive resistance, criticism or open fighting between employees. But, it doesn't end there. Other colleagues and team workers are affected and overall morale and motivation suffers.

As a result, an open conflict creates a much broader impact on the social and economic costs to the company because more employees are involved. As well, in most cases, management will have also stepped in with disciplinary processes, thus adding even more costs.

Dispute
A dispute is a complaint that is made either formally or informally. It will require time, effort and expense to resolve. At this point, productivity and absenteeism is probably impacting a broader base of employees, thus increasing costs. As well, increased management costs for legal representation or the expense of an outside investigator or mediator are more than likely involved.

While we might joke about conflict at work as the "kids in the sandbox" syndrome, work is not just a day care for adults. It's a place where work must be done regardless of employee likes and dislikes, personalities or personal motivations. But if organizational conflict is allowed to fester, your company will face significant economic risks.

The following five steps will help to create a healthy workplace family:

1. Establish corporate goals and objectives; communicate it to all staff and assist them to understand how their goals interrelate.
2. Develop and implement a conflict management process; train all managers and employees.
3. Ensure an organizational culture that sincerely welcomes open communication.
4. Empower employees to deal with conflicts at their level; be alert to brewing conflicts and deal with them immediately.
5. Don't be afraid to call for external professional assistance.

Sources: The Cost of Workplace Conflict by Peter Bishop, Six Ways to Resolve Workplace Conflict, Dr. Art Bell.

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