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Dan Kelly, the new president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), recently spoke to the Leader-Post about Canadian payroll legislation and the Pooled Retirement Pension Plan (PRPP), a voluntary program introduced by the federal government with the aim of helping more citizens save for retirement. Kelly, who previously served as the organization’s policy analyst and director of provincial affairs for Manitoba, comes into his new position with formidable knowledge of both federal and provincial political and business climates, as well as some strong opinions about PRPPs.
In Kelly’s opinion, now that the federal government has done its part, the next step is for one province to become the first to adopt provincial laws that allow PRPPs to be put into practice. He put forward Saskatchewan as an optimal test case, as 40 percent of Saskatchewanian CFIB members said they would consider incorporating PRPPs into their businesses.
“This isn’t a panacea, but the fact that four out of 10 businesses in Saskatchewan say they’re interested in offering them is progress,” Kelly told the Leader-Post.
Advocating for PRPPs
PRPPs have been controversial in Canada, but Kelly is a staunch advocate, maintaining that the plans offer a number of advantages that have not been widely publicized.
“One of them is the difference in tax treatment between pensions and retirement savings plans,” he noted, as quoted by the news source. “If a big company puts money into your pension, that employer pays no [payroll] taxes on the amount they put into your pension.”
In contrast, employers that put money into their workers’ registered retirement savings plans (RSPs) must also contribute toward the following:
- Employment insurance (EI), which provides temporary financial assistance to those who are currently unemployed
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which protects contributors and their families in the event of loss of income caused by retirement, disability or death
- Workers’ compensation premiums
- Provincial payroll taxes as dictated by Canadian payroll compliance requirements
“If you’re in a high workers’ comp rate (code), you could be putting an extra 20 percent into payroll taxes before you’ve paid any money into the employee’s RSP,” Kelly explained. “So the benefit of the PRPPs is that they would be payroll exempt.”
| Summary: | CFIB president Dan Kelly recently spoke to the Leader-Post about Canadian payroll legislation and the Pooled Retirement Pension Plan. |
Last month, the Canadian federal government tabled legislation to implement the remaining components of this year’s budget, including income tax allowances pertaining to new pooled pension plans, employment insurance measures, employment standards and Canadian payroll legislation.
As payroll consultant Alan McEwen writes in a recent article for the Canadian HR Reporter, the most extensive Canadian payroll compliance changes involve the provisions of the Canada Labour Code that pertain to due dates for vacation pay upon termination, the limits on employee complaints regarding unpaid wages and the calculation of statutory holiday pay.
Vacation pay due dates
Specifically, the new legislation would afford employers up to 30 days following the end of a worker’s employment in which to pay him or her any vacation pay owed. With regard to statutory holiday pay calculation, the requirement that employees work at least 15 days in the 30 days preceding statutory holidays is being done away with. However, workers must have been employed for at least 30 days in order to be eligible to receive statutory holiday pay.
Holiday pay calculation
Additionally, the current system of paying eligible employees whatever they would otherwise have earned is being replaced by a formula that determines holiday pay by taking the employee wages accrued in the prior four work weeks—excepting gratuities, tips and overtime—and dividing this total by 20. As the news source notes, the new federal approach is similar to that of Ontario.
In the case of workers paid on commission, those who have completed at least 12 weeks of employment will have their holiday pay calculated by taking their total earnings in the 12 prior work weeks and dividing this figure by 60.
Unpaid wage complaints
With regard to the limitations on employee complaints pertaining to unpaid wages, the new deadline to file a complaint is six months after the last due date for the wages in question. Additionally, inspectors’ ability to order employers to pay owed wages is now limited to 12 months prior to an employee complaint being filed, or to an inspection that resulted in a payment order, the media outlet explains.
Handling legislative changes can be complex, but by using payroll software solutions such as Sage BusinessVision Accounting’s payroll module, companies can swiftly and accurately manage payroll in-house rather than paying to outsource.
Read the full HR Reporter article here.
| Summary: | Proposed Canadian payroll legislation changes include vacation pay due dates, unpaid wage complaint limitations and holiday pay calculations. |
It’s hard to have escaped noticing the technological improvements that were made and summarily integrated into society over the past few years. For instance, smartphones and tablet devices have become remarkably commonplace in a relatively short period of time. Indeed, as CNN Tech reported earlier this year, research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project revealed that nearly half (45 percent) of surveyed cellphone owners said they owned smartphones. What’s more, according to projections made by Forrester Research, 1 billion global citizens will own smartphones by 2016, many of whom will be professionals who use their devices for business purposes.
However, mobile devices are far from the only form of technology that has undergone significant advancements in recent years. Technology plays an important role in virtually every type of business, as it can help streamline processes, free up workers’ time by automating tasks, integrate increasingly up-to-date and accurate record-keeping methods and much more. Because error and inefficiency may get costly, technology has the potential to save money as well as time.
How technology can benefit inventory management
The realm of inventory management has particular potential to be streamlined by the integration of technology-related improvements. With inventory software, business and warehouse operations can track the amount, location and status of inventory items, which provides more insight and transparency into the supply chain. The Sage BusinessVision Inventory modules are no exception. The Inventory Control, Order Entry and Purchase Order modules each have different functions that come together to form a comprehensive inventory management software offering which supports unlimited orders, three costing methods (average cost, FIFO and LIFO), indefinite purchase history retention and automatic calculation of taxes, revenue, cost of goods and receivables, to name a few.
As the holiday season approaches, these types of capabilities are becoming increasingly important for many manufacturers and retailers. Inventory technology allows companies to determine items’ popularity and zero-in on when each product will reach its peak level of demand. Businesses with this information at their fingertips can engage in more informed, proactive planning for the winter shopping season and beyond, which will help them avoid situations such as shortages and surpluses that can cut into their profit margins.
Read the CNN Tech report here and a New York Times article on the Forrester projections here.
| Summary: | Technological advances such as inventory management software can save companies time and money. |
Six big-box stores recently sued the province of Quebec over Canadian retail legislation that requires them to add French to their outdoor signs. Best Buy, Costco, Gap, Guess, Old Navy and Walmart claim that modifying their signs to sound more French would weaken the brand identity they have invested millions of dollars into building.
As the Toronto Star explains, a campaign launched in November of last year requires all businesses to change their names and store signage in order to be more welcoming to the province’s French speakers. Companies can either register French versions of their names, add descriptive French words to their store signs—Canadian Grocer offers the example of Le Magasin Walmart—or include French slogans below their English names.
Language laws a threat to brand identity
“Their business model depends on standardization and scale, none of which are possible under this (threat),” Ken Wong, a marketing professor at Queens University, told QMI Agency. “(The retailers) have spent hundreds of millions on brand identity and now lose that within Quebec. It could be that they’d be better off not operating in Quebec if the cost is a loss of their fundamental business model.”
The Office Quebecois de la langue francaise is threatening to revoke the retail giants’ francization certificates, which signify that they are operating in accordance with provincial language laws. Companies that do not hold francization certificates are unable to receive provincial subsidies or contracts.
An “effective tool to chase out business”
According to QMI, the six retailers operate a total of 152 stores in the province—approximately one-third of which are Walmart locations. Collectively, they employ thousands of people, all of whom may be left without jobs if an agreement cannot be reached and the companies end up pulling out of the province altogether.
Alberta Conservative MP Rob Anders recently weighed in on the issue, calling the linguistic regulations “the most effective tool to chase out business and investment that I have ever run across,” as quoted by the media outlet. “That’s not what we need in an economic recession.”
This isn’t the first time that retailers have taken a stand against language-related Canadian retail compliance laws. As the news source notes, Blockbuster Video threatened to stop operating in the province when the government requested that it take a French name in the 1990s.
| Summary: | Six big-box retailers are suing the province of Quebec over Canadian retail legislation that require them to add French to their global trademarks. |
Virtually all businesses share several of the same core goals, regardless of size, industry, geographic location and other variables. One central aim for the vast majority of companies is to expand their reach in order to broaden their customer bases and bring in more revenue.
Combat growing pains with inventory software
Often, firms experience growing pains related to a variety of different elements, including cash flow management, marketing to a greater number of consumers and handling an increased inventory. Small businesses with low inventory may find that as the amount of materials they are responsible for starts to grow, the manual ways in which they approached inventory management in the past are no longer adequate, which is where inventory software comes into the picture. Thorough records are an imperative part of a successful company, and if your firm’s inventory documentation leaves a lot to be desired, there’s no time like the present to amp up your record-keeping. What’s more, inventory technology grows alongside businesses, offering expanded capabilities as the organizations flourish.
Address core components
There are a lot of inventory management solutions out there, some of which are more comprehensive and more appropriate for the individual needs of your company than others. In order to get your firm’s automated inventory tracking efforts off to a solid start, BizFilings recommends that you only consider software which allows you to quickly and intuitively manage the following vital components:
- Sales orders that comprise customer purchase orders in a customized format
- Bills of materials that list inventory components and labor requirements
- Work orders that detail product information and bills of materials
That said, inventory technology can provide capabilities that go way beyond merely organizing the information your company needs to track purchase orders, components and product details. Many software solutions offer analysis components that allow firms to look at their processes in an in-depth manner. By analyzing inventory data, businesses can identify areas of waste and inefficiency, as well as pinpoint other opportunities to improve their cash flow.
If your company is expanding rapidly, this step is particularly important. Fast-growth firms are especially vulnerable to cash flow issues that arise because of the need to fund inventory expansion and pay their workers before they themselves get paid by customers.
| Summary: | Companies aiming to expand their operations may benefit from integrating inventory software. |
There are several distinct pieces of federal and provincial Canadian retail legislation that pertain to the collection of consumers’ personal information. As the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s (OPCC) website explains, these Canadian retail compliance laws are in place to safeguard the privacy of customer data and maintain transparency throughout the process of collecting these personal details.
“Essentially, these laws require retailers to clearly tell customers why they are collecting the information and then ask for the least amount to meet their purposes,” the OPCC explains. “They also demand retailers to protect personal information in their care.”
So what does this mean for one of the most common forms of identification in Canada—the driver’s license? As the OPCC notes, many retailers regard driver’s licenses as universal identity cards, when their actual purpose is simply “to demonstrate that a person is authorized to operate a motor vehicle.” Retailers tend to gravitate toward the driver’s license as proof of identity because it is government-issued (and therefore official), and also contains a lot of useful personal information, such as a photograph and date of birth. In some provinces, a significant number of details about a person can be gleaned directly from the license number, including year of birth and gender.
There are several ways that retailers can collect driver’s license information:
- Examining a license and immediately handing it back to the customer without copying it or writing down any personal data
- Recording information from a license (such as the ID number)
- Photocopying a license
Because driver’s licenses are such a valuable source of consumer data, the collection of driver’s license information is highly regulated by federal and provincial private sector privacy legislation, including the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Quebec’s Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector and the Personal Information Protection Acts in Alberta and British Columbia.
The legislation limits the collection, use and disclosure of consumers’ personal information to “appropriate or reasonable purposes,” for instance:
- Identity verification
- Fraud deterrence
- Fraud detection
- Asset recovery
| Summary: | Canadian retail compliance laws limit how retailers can collect and use the information on consumers’ driver’s licenses and other forms of ID. |
Depending on the industry within which your company operates, the inventory you work with could be anything from cooking ingredients to items of clothing, electronic parts to ready-made technological appliances. Regardless of the specific nature of your industry and the inventory you are charged with controlling, it’s important to do the following:
- Keep close tabs on inventory levels
- Forecast future surpluses and shortages based on demand predictions
- Comply with inventory legislation
- Maintain comprehensive, up-to-date records
For company owners looking to optimize their inventory management processes, a good first step is to upgrade from a manual approach to one that involves leveraging inventory software. By integrating a solution such as Sage BusinessVision Accounting’s Inventory modules, companies can attain a deeper level of insight into their inventory, helping them cut costs and boost satisfaction across their customer bases. Automating processes using the three modules—Inventory Control, Order Entry and Purchase Order—allows firms to gain greater understanding of their holdings and ultimately streamline the task of inventory management.
Inventory Control
The Inventory Control module boasts promotional pricing capabilities, vendor pricing, quantity breaks, multiple price lists and numerous units of measure, and is equipped to handle an unlimited number of serial numbers and SKUs. It also allows images to be paired with data entries in order to facilitate quick and easy inventory item recognition. Users of this module can take their pick of three costing methods—average cost, LIFO and FIFO.
Order Entry
The Order Entry module serves as a hub for layaways, quotations, repeat orders and automatic or manual back-ordering for an unlimited number of items. Inventory levels can be managed on-screen, and the appropriate reports needed for tracking the usage and sales of components and services can also be generated.
Purchase Order
When used in conjunction with the Accounts Payable, Inventory and Vendor modules, the Purchase Order module facilitates the process of tracking vendors, purchases and payables, and can also automatically calculate inventory costs, print purchase orders, email purchase orders directly to vendors and send purchase orders.
By regularly maintaining and evaluating their holdings, companies can adjust their inventory investments as they evolve and grow with the goal of maximizing cash flow.
| Summary: | Regardless of the specific nature of your industry and the inventory your firm controls, inventory software can help streamline the process. |
The Quebec Employers Council (QEC) released the latest iteration of its annual salary forecasts publication earlier this month, which predicted that employees in the province will enjoy an average salary increase of 2.8 percent next year.
Although this is good news for workers, the Special Report on 2013 Salary Forecasts also anticipated that employee payroll tax rates will go up as well. Specifically, the 2.8 percent rise in wages will translate to an average yearly payroll tax cost of $168 per worker, on top of the rates dictated by the current Canadian payroll tax legislation observed in the province.
The leading human resources consulting firms that contributed to the report—Aon Hewitt, Mercer, Morneau Shepell and Towers Watson—came up with this figure by crunching the various contribution rate numbers for 2013 and aligning these with the relevant Canadian payroll legislation. The contributions factored into the projections include those announced for the Occupational Health and Safety Fund, the Quebec Health Fund and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan.
The third edition of the QEC’s Report Card on Quebec Prosperity, released in August, noted Quebecois employers face payroll taxes that are more than one-third higher than those paid by companies in the neighboring province of Ontario. What’s more, organizations in Quebec pay 45 percent more in payroll taxes than the national average. These statistics led to the council awarding the province a C- grade for its manpower costs.
“In a competitive global market context, where access to an available, quality labor force at a competitive cost is a priority, employers have to be able to benefit from the best possible conditions (particularly in terms of payroll taxes) to create wealth and provide competitive wages to their employees,” said QEC president Yves-Thomas Dorval in a recent statement.
The role of payroll software
As HR-related legislation changes quite frequently, it’s important for employers to keep up with the latest facts and figures. Payroll tax software takes the onus off of internal HR employees by automating much of the payroll management process. This mitigates the potential for human error that can be caused by unfamiliarity with new regulations, without the need to outsource tasks to third-party payroll specialists. With the Sage BusinessVision Payroll module, employers can customize the payroll process to meet their needs by defining benefits, deductions and pay schedules.
| Summary: | The Quebec Employers Council’s recent annual salary forecast is based on factors such as Canadian payroll legislation and tax contributions. |
A recent post detailed the Canadian retail legislation imposed upon the country’s five most populous provinces—Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec—that pertained to the fees and expiration dates associated with gift cards. This article will address the Canadian retail compliance rules in the other provinces and territories. As with any legislation, you should regularly check for updates to these rules.
New Brunswick
According to the Retail Council of Canada, New Brunswick does not generally allow gift card fees and expiry dates. However, cards issued or sold for a charitable purpose, a promotional purpose or a specific good or service are permitted to expire. With regard to fees, suppliers can apply these to cards sold for charitable or promotional purposes, as well as to replace lost or stolen cards and customize cards. For multi-vendor gift cards, which can be used at multiple unaffiliated sellers and are commonly referred to as “mall cards,” dormancy fees of not more than $2.50 per month can be applied 15 months after purchase.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador does not yet have legislation in place to define gift cards, eliminate expiry dates, prohibit fees or require retailers to provide certain information to consumers.
Northwest Territories
Like retailers in Newfoundland and Labrador, retailers in the Northwest Territories currently do not have to abide by any provincial gift card legislation, as this is not yet in existence.
Nova Scotia
Gift cards issued or sold for charitable or promotional purposes are permitted to expire. Gift cards sold for specific goods or services, also known as “experience cards,” are only allowed to expire if they were issued after the date the current provincial regulations came into effect—February 1, 2010. In terms of fees, these are permitted for card replacement and customization, as well as those sold for charitable or promotional purposes. This province does not make an allowance for dormancy fees.
Nunavut
Nunavut does not yet have gift card legislation in place.
Prince Edward Island
On PEI, charitable, promotional and experience gift cards can come with both expiry dates and administration fees, and suppliers can also charge for customization and replacement. Phone cards, pre-paid bank cards and credit card-branded cards are not covered by the provincial legislation that went into effect on September 1, 2010, and fall under federal jurisdiction.
Saskatchewan
In Saskatchewan, gift cards or certificates may expire or come with fees if they are issued for charitable purposes or the consumer has provided nothing of value for them.
Yukon
The Yukon does not yet have gift card legislation in place.
| Summary: | In order to maintain Canadian retail compliance, businesses must follow gift card legislation that varies between provinces and territories. |
