A look at statutory holidays and SIN cards
The following questions were fielded by Thomson Carswell’s Payroll Hotline service (a telephone support service, included with several Thomson Carswell products). Answers are provided courtesy of The Canadian Payroll Manual and The Canadian Payroll Manager newsletter, published by Carswell.
Overlapping shifts and statutory holidays
Question: When an employee works a shift that overlaps two days and one of the days is a statutory holiday, what hours are considered statutory holidays and what hours are considered regular hours for the purposes of determining how the hours should be paid?
Specifically, in the following two scenarios, how are the hours worked treated?
1. An employee works a regular shift that begins at 11 p.m. on the day before the statutory holiday and ends at 7 a.m. on the statutory holiday.
2. An employee works a regular shift that begins at 11 p.m. on a statutory holiday and ends at 7 a.m. on the next day.
Answer: The requirements will vary depending on the jurisdiction: (Note: The following responses are based on opinions we received from each jurisdiction. Since the issue is not addressed in most labour/employment standards legislation, individual cases may still need to be reviewed by the appropriate board.)
Canada Labour Code, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan:
1. The hours worked from 11 p.m. to midnight would be considered part of the regular day and the hours worked from midnight to 7 a.m. would be considered part of the statutory holiday.
2. The hours worked from 11 p.m. to midnight would be considered part of the statutory holiday and the hours worked from midnight to 7 a.m. would be considered part of a regular day.
Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and the Yukon:
1. All of the hours worked on the shift would be considered a regular day.
2. All of the hours worked on the shift would be considered a statutory holiday.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
In both scenarios all hours worked would be considered hours worked on the statutory holiday.
Quebec:
Contact the Commission des norms du travail for a ruling for each scenario.
Refusal to show SIN cards
Question: Recently, a number of our new employees have refused to show us their social insurance number (SIN) card after being hired. Instead, they prefer to verbally inform us of the number. Do employers have the right to ask to see the card or are the employees within their rights to only tell us the number?
Answer: Employers not only have a right to see the card, they have an obligation under both the Employment Insurance Regulations and Canada Pension Plan legislation.
Section 89(15) of the Employment Insurance Regulations states, “an employer who hires a person in insurable employment shall request the employee to produce to the employer a social insurance number card within three days after the employee commences employment.”
Section 98(5) of the Canada Pension Plan states “every employer who employs an employee in pensionable employment shall, in the case of an employee to whom subsection (2) applies, within 30 days after the employee reaches 18 years of age or becomes employed in pensionable employment, whichever is the later, require the employee to produce his social insurance number card and shall maintain a record of the social insurance number of each employee.”
And section 98(6) of the Canada Pension Plan states, “every employee who is required by subsection five to produce his social insurance number card to his employer shall produce that card to his employer within 30 days after being required to produce it.”
Canada Revenue Agency has the authority to fine ($100 for each failure) employers who do not make a “reasonable effort” to obtain a SIN from an employee.
The purpose of these requirements is to allow the employer to verify that the name on the SIN cards matches the SIN that the employee has provided.
For more information contact Thomson Carswell’s Payroll Hotline at (800) 661-6828.
Overlapping shifts and statutory holidays
Question: When an employee works a shift that overlaps two days and one of the days is a statutory holiday, what hours are considered statutory holidays and what hours are considered regular hours for the purposes of determining how the hours should be paid?
Specifically, in the following two scenarios, how are the hours worked treated?
1. An employee works a regular shift that begins at 11 p.m. on the day before the statutory holiday and ends at 7 a.m. on the statutory holiday.
2. An employee works a regular shift that begins at 11 p.m. on a statutory holiday and ends at 7 a.m. on the next day.
Answer: The requirements will vary depending on the jurisdiction: (Note: The following responses are based on opinions we received from each jurisdiction. Since the issue is not addressed in most labour/employment standards legislation, individual cases may still need to be reviewed by the appropriate board.)
Canada Labour Code, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan:
1. The hours worked from 11 p.m. to midnight would be considered part of the regular day and the hours worked from midnight to 7 a.m. would be considered part of the statutory holiday.
2. The hours worked from 11 p.m. to midnight would be considered part of the statutory holiday and the hours worked from midnight to 7 a.m. would be considered part of a regular day.
Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and the Yukon:
1. All of the hours worked on the shift would be considered a regular day.
2. All of the hours worked on the shift would be considered a statutory holiday.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
In both scenarios all hours worked would be considered hours worked on the statutory holiday.
Quebec:
Contact the Commission des norms du travail for a ruling for each scenario.
Refusal to show SIN cards
Question: Recently, a number of our new employees have refused to show us their social insurance number (SIN) card after being hired. Instead, they prefer to verbally inform us of the number. Do employers have the right to ask to see the card or are the employees within their rights to only tell us the number?
Answer: Employers not only have a right to see the card, they have an obligation under both the Employment Insurance Regulations and Canada Pension Plan legislation.
Section 89(15) of the Employment Insurance Regulations states, “an employer who hires a person in insurable employment shall request the employee to produce to the employer a social insurance number card within three days after the employee commences employment.”
Section 98(5) of the Canada Pension Plan states “every employer who employs an employee in pensionable employment shall, in the case of an employee to whom subsection (2) applies, within 30 days after the employee reaches 18 years of age or becomes employed in pensionable employment, whichever is the later, require the employee to produce his social insurance number card and shall maintain a record of the social insurance number of each employee.”
And section 98(6) of the Canada Pension Plan states, “every employee who is required by subsection five to produce his social insurance number card to his employer shall produce that card to his employer within 30 days after being required to produce it.”
Canada Revenue Agency has the authority to fine ($100 for each failure) employers who do not make a “reasonable effort” to obtain a SIN from an employee.
The purpose of these requirements is to allow the employer to verify that the name on the SIN cards matches the SIN that the employee has provided.
For more information contact Thomson Carswell’s Payroll Hotline at (800) 661-6828.
