As a business owner in Canada, you need to be aware of the importance of a Record of Employment (ROE). ROE is a form issued to your employees in the event they no longer receive insurable earnings.
Workers will need the ROE document during the application process for employment insurance (EI) benefits. As to ensure the ROE form can serve its purpose, you need to understand the type of information that must be included in the document and which situation warrants an ROE issuance to your employees.
Many business owners are still unfamiliar with this particular subject matter despite its vital role. As such, I have laid out all the basics and important aspects of an ROE in this article.
The Purpose of a Record of Employment
Before we dive deep into the details, you should know that Service Canada considers the ROE form the number one must-have document for employees when applying for EI benefits.
Essentially, a ROE entails broken-down insurable earnings received by employees. Therefore, Service Canada uses that information for the following assessments:
· Assessing whether the employee meets the requirements for EI benefits, determining their appropriate benefit rate, and establishing the duration of their eligibility
· Ensuring that all eligible employees receive accurate EI benefits
· And safeguarding against malpractice and erroneous issuance of EI benefits
A typical ROE requires some key items, including payment period (such as bi-weekly or monthly), employee total insurable hours and total insurable earnings, and the purpose behind issuing the ROE.
You probably have noticed by now, that all of this necessitates the need to carefully manage all employment records, such as the social insurance numbers for all your employees. You, as employer, have to make sure that all the information listed on the ROE form is error-free and complete.
What Are Considered Insurable Earnings?
It is easy to distinguish insurable earnings since the majority portion of an employee’s salary is qualified as such. Specifically, these are the salaries that are paid in cash, checks, or direct deposits, and work-related compensation.
An important note to keep in mind is that if you own a business in Canada, you must also comply with these rules: Deduct EI premiums from the employee’s paycheck to employees and consistently remit those premiums to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Generally, things like commissions, bonuses, sick leave, holiday pay, and vacation pay can fall under the insurable earnings category. However, the CRA still hands down the ultimate decision on what qualifies.
When Is a Record of Employee Necessary?
You have to issue one either when requested by Service Canada or when your employee experiences an interruption of earnings, regardless of their plan to file for EI benefits or not.
An earnings interruption is a scenario in which a worker goes through seven consecutive days without work and insurable earnings. The scenario also includes when the worker’s salary falls to less than 60% of their weekly earnings. The drop in salary can be attributed to any of the following situations:
· Instances of sickness, injury, or quarantine
· maternity or parental leave for a new or recently adopted child
· providing care for a seriously ill family member
While the majority of circumstances that necessitate issuing an ROE are straightforward, such as when an employee resigns, is terminated, or takes a maternity leave, there are less frequent scenarios that can also require its issuance.Particularly, you are required to provide an ROE when an employee’s paid internship ends, an amendment in payroll policy within your organization, or transitioning to a different payroll service provider.
The Process of Issuing a Record of Employment
To issue ROEs, you have two options available. You can either submit the employee’s ROE form electronically through your Service Canada account or choose the traditional method of submitting it as a paper document.
1. Online submission
First, if you handle your own payroll, you have the convenience of utilizing ROE Web online through several methods. You can utilize compatible software that enables you to directly upload ROE data from your payroll system. Alternatively, you can manually enter the ROE data through the Service Canada website. Lastly, if you have a payroll service provider, they can submit ROEs on your behalf using SAT (Secure Automated Transfer), which is a bulk transfer technology.
2. Paper submission
If you opt for the traditional method of completing the whole process via paper documents, there are a few steps to follow. Initially, you will need to request the necessary forms from your Employer Contact Centre.
Paper ROEs are comprised of three identical copies. First, the original copy is issued to your employee so they can submit it to Service Canada when applying for EI benefits. Next, the blue copy is to be submitted directly to Service Canada. Finally, a copy should be retained by your business and filed along with your employment records for future reference.
Important Deadlines to Keep in Mind
Depending on your submission method, there are different due dates that you should note down.
For example, when opting for electronic ROE filing, the submission must be completed within five calendar days following the interruption of the pay period. If, however, your employee’s pay cycle is monthly, the deadline for filing is determined by the earliest of two options: either five calendar days after the end of the pay period in which the interruption of earnings occurred or fifteen calendar days after the first day of the interruption.
When it comes to filing a paper ROE, on the other hand, the timeline is slightly different. You are required to complete the submission within five calendar days of either the first day of your employee’s earnings interruption, or the day the interruption came to your notice.
Your Service Provider
At Bluemount, we offer assistance in streamlining your payroll process through cloud-based software specifically designed to handle various responsibilities, including the management of ROEs.
Our payroll management services ensure the generation of comprehensive and precise employee ROEs whenever necessary, along with the submission to Service Canada on your behalf. This allows you to refocus on the core operations of your business while we take care of the administrative tasks.