Author Archive - Alan McEwen

Alan R. McEwen‘s involvement in payroll spans over 20 years. As a practitioner, he has implemented and managed outsourced payroll operations for both large and small employers. As a consultant, he has worked with many organizations, public and private, on HR/payroll process re-engineering, strategic systems decisions and forensic payroll audits. Read more

Have SIN card changes been well thought out?

May 31, 2012 Alan McEwen Human Resources, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting

In its omnibus budget Bill C-38, the federal government is giving itself the ability to eliminate the use of physical Social Insurance Number cards. According to an article in the May 16 issue of the Globe and Mail, actual SIN cards will no longer be issued as of March 2014. Currently Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan legislation requires employers to ask to see the actual card.

2012 federal budget, Bill C-38, canada pension plan, Canada Revenue Agency, cpp, EI, Employment Insurance, employment law, payroll fraud, SIN cards, Social Insurance Number, T4 reporting

What’s wrong with this picture? Settlement excludes amount of vacation pay owing

May 1, 2012 Alan McEwen Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

In Ontario, employers owe vacation pay on employee wages. Wages are defined in section 1 of the Employment Standards Act to include “any payment required to be made by an employer to an employee.” Here is where it gets tricky. In Ontario, the employment standards may require two separate types of payments to an employee who is terminated without cause.

Calculating vacation pay, employment law, ontario employment standards act, Ontario Ministry of Labour, Policy and Interpretation Manual, severance package, Severance pay, statutory notice, Statutory severance, termination notice, termination without cause, vacation pay, vacation pay owing, Vacationable earnings, wages in lieu of notice, wrongful dismissal

Researching budget changes

March 30, 2012 Alan McEwen Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

The day after the federal budget, it might be useful to share some thoughts about researching this budget, as well as related provincial budgets, for changes that might affect payroll source deduction and reporting.

2012 federal budget, budget research, Department of Finance, federal budget, Notices of ways and means motions, payroll source deductions, provincial budget, T4127

Nortel, robo-calls and refusing unlawful employer instructions

February 29, 2012 Alan McEwen Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources

Employers normally have the right to expect that instructions to employees will be faithfully carried out. But what happens when the employer asks that employees do something dodgy or potentially illegal? What would you do when faced with an employer request you felt might not be within the law?

employment law, Nortel, refusing employer instructions, reprisal, right to refuse work, Robo-calls, terminate for cause, unlawful employer requests, work refusal

Advising departing employees on their right to EI benefits

January 31, 2012 Alan McEwen Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting

Employers are often asked by their employees for advice on Employment Insurance. Specifically, if they will be able to qualify for EI benefits. Employers should know what to say in response to such questions.

Employer EI advice for employees, Employment Insurance, hours required to qualify, Labour attachment period, labour force attachment period, qualifying for EI benefits, qualifying period

Québec and Ontario sales taxes on group employee benefits

December 23, 2011 Alan McEwen Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting

Employee benefits are subject to provincial sales in both Ontario and Québec, at 8 and 9 percent respectively. These sales taxes only apply to coverage provided through group plans so, for example, term life insurance provided to just one individual is not subject to tax. These taxes are separate from the normal HST, GST or QST that apply in these provinces. These taxes apply to both employee and employer payments of premiums for the coverage or benefits supplied.

employee and employer payments of premiums, employee benefits, employee group benefits, employment law, GST, HST, insurance premiums, ontario, province of employment, provincial sales tax, QST, Quebec, residence, retiree benefits, sales taxes, self-insured benefits

CRA and MRQ 2012 source deduction and reporting changes

November 30, 2011 Alan McEwen Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting

These are the most important things you need to know before you begin your first 2012 payrolls and while preparing to issue T4s, T4As and RL-1s for 2011. We break this down between new reporting requirements for the 2011 tax year and new source deduction requirements for payments made after January 1, 2012.

2011 tax year, 2012 payroll changes, 2012 tax year, automobile rates, Canada Revenue Agency, cpp, CRA, EI, End of the year 2011, indexing, Ministère du Revenu de Québec, MRQ, Payroll reporting, Payroll taxes, pensionable earnings, personal tax credit amounts, QPIP, QPP, Reporting changes for 2011, Revenue Quebec, RL1, Source deductions, T4, T4 reporting, taxable income

Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (top-up) plan reporting

October 31, 2011 Alan McEwen Payroll, Pensions and Benefits

We set up a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) plan in the last year (also known as a top-up plan). How do I report the payments our employees received under the plan in 2011? Before answering this question, let’s clarify a couple of terms…

Employment Insurance, employment law, Income Tax Act, Service Canada, SUB plan, supplementary unemployment benefits, T4, T4A, Top-up plan

Is severance pay required when an employee is terminated?

September 29, 2011 Alan McEwen Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

When I speak at conferences, I am often asked the following question: “Is severance pay required when an employee is terminated?”

Before this question can be answered, we have to first confront the difficulty that some payroll terms traditionally used to describe both termination, as well as any payments resulting from this event, haven’t always been defined with the greatest of clarity. My preference has always been for those terms that convey the clearest meaning of the related employment standards and source deduction requirements.

constructive dismissal, death benefits, employment law, layoff, loss of employment, Notice, payments on separation, retiring allowance, separation payments, Severance pay, statutory notice, Statutory severance, termination, termination for cause, termination without cause, wages in lieu of notice, wrongful dismissal

Changes to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contribution rules in 2012

August 31, 2011 Alan McEwen Employee Relations, Human Resources, Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting

Starting in 2012, the federal and provincial governments are making a series of changes to the Canada Pension Plan that affect employees aged between 60 and 70. These changes permit CPP and QPP contributions for employees when CPP or QPP retirement benefits are received, before employees turn 70 years of age. These changes bring the CPP into line with similar changes made to the QPP in 1997.The purpose, in part, is to offer more support to employees who wish to phase in their retirement.

canada pension plan, cpp, CPP and QPP contributions, CPP benefits, employment law, phased retirement, QPP, QPP benefits, quebec pension plan, retirement, retirement benefits

Payroll deductions relating to long term disability premiums

July 29, 2011 Alan McEwen Payroll, Pensions and Benefits

Recently, one of our subscribers was wondering how to deal with payroll deductions relating to long-term disability (LTD) premiums. They wanted to know if the amount they deduct from the employee’s paycheque must include the Ontario sales tax on the LTD premium?

Deductions at source, employer portion of the LTD premium, insurance company, Long-term disability, LTD coverage, LTD premiums, Ontario Retail Sales Tax, Payroll deductions