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WHY THE RECORD OF
EMPLOYMENT NEEDS TO BE
ADMINISTERED CORRECTLY
The Record of Employment (ROE) is a
mandatory form required by the federal
government after an employee experiences
an interruption of earnings of seven days
or more. An interruption of earnings may
happen for a variety of reasons including
planned or unplanned absences like termination,
sickness and maternity and/
or parental leave, which may also require
the administration of special payments
by employers. Failure to submit an ROE
within the legislated timeframe means
that employers may be fined for non-compliance
and face an increased risk of audit.
To complicate matters, administering the
ROE remains a top challenge for payroll,
accounting and HR practitioners, according
to Canadian Payroll Association
(CPA) survey results. The ROE is a complex
form with a 52-page user guide and
practitioners must navigate this complexity
to ensure that they are remaining
compliant.
An employer's ability to plan for special
payments and ensure they are administered
in accordance with organizational
policies and compliant with government
legislation depends on the knowledge of
their payroll, HR and accounting staff.
ROE REMAINS CHALLENGING
DESPITE IMPROVEMENTS
In just the past year, there were important
changes to the ROE (ROE Web, for
example). Many of these changes were
successfully advocated for by the CPA in
an effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of ROE administration.
The CPA also made several recommendations
to Service Canada to improve
ROE Web for employers, which were adopted
last year.
SPECIAL PAYMENTS CREATE
PAYROLL COMPLEXITY
Anyone who is responsible for payroll
knows that compliance is crucial, especially
given the constantly changing legislation
and regulations that affect the profession.
Practitioners who administer payroll are
largely responsible for processing employee
payments that fall outside the regular
payroll cycle. Payroll becomes increasingly
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
IS INCREASINGLY VARIED AND
DIVERSE, AND MAY NOT ALWAYS
FALL INTO THE TRADITIONAL
DEFINITION OF VOLUNTEERING.
complex when considering special payments,
which cover a host of payment
exceptions including employee bonuses,
severance pay, workers' compensation topups,
and death and retirement benefits, to
name a few.
"Employers must consider how special
payments are affected by federal and
provincial legislation, organization policies
and procedures, as well as employee
behaviour and circumstances," said Janet
Spence, manager of compliance services
and programs at the CPA. "By encouraging
payroll, accounting and HR professionals
to undertake ongoing professional development,
employers can be assured that
their staff will have the tools and resources
needed to confidently handle special payments
and properly administer the ROE
on behalf of employees."
HOW DO WE RECOGNIZE
VOLUNTEERING IN 2017?
Alarm bells sounded when the findings of
the General Social Survey: Giving, volunteering
and participating (2013) revealed
a drop in volunteering among Canadians
from 47 per cent of Canadians in 2010 to
44 per cent in 2013. Was this a minor blip
or the beginning of a concerning downward
trend? Have Canadians become less
giving or are we simply giving time in new
and different ways?
In order to answer these questions,
Volunteer Canada and Investors
Group engaged Ipsos Public Affairs to
conduct an opinion poll, to examine
Canadians' perceptions and attitudes on
volunteering. The results revealed that
community involvement is increasingly
varied and diverse, and may not always
fall into the traditional definition of
volunteering.
"As the nature of volunteering evolves,
our definition and recognition of the term
must adapt," said Paula Speevak, president
and CEO of Volunteer Canada.
"For example, buying fair trade coffee in
the morning or organizing a carpool puts
your personal values into action. Is this
volunteering?"
From the research emerged the notion
of individual social responsibility (ISR),
a concept that may disrupt the traditional
definition of volunteering but also offers
a more inclusive and progressive way
to frame volunteering and community
engagement.
"As Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary
and the diversity that strengthens
us as a nation, recognizing ISR as a contributor
to community building is key,"
said Trevor Krahn, director of community
investment at Investors Group.
WHAT DOES ISR MEAN FOR
ORGANIZATIONS?
Non-profits can better understand what
drives Canadians' community engagement
motivations. Acknowledging ISR can also
help businesses to grow their corporate social
responsibility (CSR) programs. As the
definition of volunteering evolves, organizations
can celebrate all Canadians who
make a difference in their communities. n
12 ❚ JULY 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
