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ALBERTA FORECAST: 114,000 WORKERS SHORT BY 2021: How Are You Positioned to Retain/Attract Employees?
By Denise Baril
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The shift is happening now, so get on board or lose your most valuable business capital: your employees. Today more than ever, we have to take immediate action to address the upcoming supply and demand issue. Employees will soon be in short supply, so make your workplace the one they don't want to leave. Companies who get it, are starting to redesign key aspects of their business systems to attract and retain quality employees. Included in this redesign, is a focus on training in the workplace. Training and education in the workplace is one aspect that can make or break your future growth. In a report entitled Talent Edge 2020, Building the Recovery by Deloitte, they identified that companies are running inadequate training programs. "Nearly half of employees surveyed (48%) who plan to leave their current jobs believe their companies are doing a "fair/poor" job managing and delivering effective training programs; just 24% rate training programs as "excellent/very good."
Where do you stand on investing in workplace training?
Many companies see value in training and adding resources to invest in employees. The problem becomes one of time management. It is great to provide training but finding the right resources to meet your employee needs is very time consuming. Who in your company is assigned the task of finding resources to address learning needs? Often this task falls on the shoulders of the busiest departments in a company: human resources or occupational health. With a plate of important and urgent duties at hand, how can they actively find new resources to meet the changing needs of the workplace? There has been no easy way to get the job done. Many leaders rely on existing speakers or learning professionals they have sourced in the past because they cannot spend their time aimlessly "googling for trainers". There has been no site devoted to workplace training resources...until now.
WSN: Workplace Speaker Network Innovation in Workplace Training
A local entrepreneur, Denise Baril, launched an innovative online network, WSN, to address the learning needs she identified in the workplace. " In my business research in 2011, I realized there was no central portal to find talent for workplace learning. There were pocket sites devoted to specific speaker associations. There were millions of web sites hosting expert trainers. However, we all know the challenge with searching on the www...time Who has the time to screen millions of web sites to find a speaker you need to run a training session next month? In addition to this who has the tools to stay current with what's new in the training field? I also noticed budgets fluctuated and companies were challenged to supply training. I started asking "what if you could start sourcing talent locally instead of flying people in? Instead of your budget going towards flight cost, hotel and meal expenses, it could go directly to training?" The answer was, "We could meet our training targets on budget."
WSN: Workplace Speaker Network was developed as a result of a gap identified between how workplace training resources (speakers/training professionals) and the businesses they wanted to serve were connecting. As WSN started making connecting easy between the two stakeholder groups, a wave of interest hit them like a tsunami. Overnight they had a service building to connect speakers and training talent with organizations who needed them. The new WSN site is designed to bring all stakeholders in workplace learning together so that they can connect, communicate, and collaborate for mutual benefit. Whether you are a speaker/trainer, business or nonprofit organization, or a company that serves this niche marketplace, you now have a destination site you can be part of to support world-class training programs. With 2021 coming soon, will you be prepared to withstand the perfect storm?
Denise Baril, Founder
Workplace Speaker Network
Denise@workplacespeakernetwork.com
(403) 620-5010
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Why Contract Workers and Employee Benefit Plans Don't Mix
By Richard Dillabough
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Employers often ask if they should offer to put some or all of their contract workers on their employee benefit plan. On the surface, this seems like a harmless perk to offer your contract workers. In reality, it is a potentially dangerous practice, which in extreme cases, can lead to significant costs for both parties. The Employed versus Self-employed Debate Hiring contract workers, as opposed to employees, offers potential benefits, financial and otherwise, to both the company as well as the contractor. However, the growth of this kind of employment arrangement has attracted the attention of Canada Revenue Agency, which is concerned that employers and workers are trying to "have their cake and eat it too". You can't be an employee, or call someone an employee, when it is advantageous, and then call that same person a contract worker at other times. You must be consistent and forthright. To help sort out who is and who isn't an employee, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has established and published guidelines for people to follow. Ultimately, CRA will decide, based on all the available information, whether or not someone is an employee or self-employed. Following these guidelines can help keep companies from committing costly mistakes that may result in irreparable financial damage. Possible Penalties Facing Employers If it is determined that someone thought to be self-employed, is in fact an employee, the employer can be charged with back payments and penalties for CPP, EI and possibly WCB premiums. These findings could trigger difficulties with CRA itself, such as GST, corporate and personal income tax audits. There have been instances where companies have faced bankruptcy because of the amount of back charges and penalties owed to these various programs and agencies.
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Dying without a Will (Dying Intestate)
Source: RBC Insurance
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Many people incorrectly assume that if they were to die without a Will their estate would simply pass to their spouse. However, this would only happen for assets that were held jointly with right of survivorship with the spouse (except for in Quebec). In Canada, if you die without a Will you are considered to have died "intestate." Simply put, this means that your provincial government decides how your assets will be divided-and not you. Each province has intestacy rules that define your estate's beneficiaries and how much each is to receive. Usually, this means your legal spouse and biological and adopted children will likely end up with your estate's assets. Intestacy rules, however, do not take into account any intentions you may have for distributing your assets. Even worse intestacy can result in additional legal costs for your beneficiaries.
How your intestate assets may be distributed:
Depending on your province, your spouse will receive a preferential share of your estate, ranging from the first $40,000 to $200,000. The balance of the estate is divided among your spouse and children. (Children inherit at the age of majority-18 or 19 years depending on the province). However, the definition of "spouse" varies from province to province, which can cause difficulty for non-traditional families. For example, without a Will, someone who has both a legal spouse and a second, common-law partner could leave a legacy of litigation to their heirs. Most provincial intestacy rules do not recognize common-law spouse status, so he or she may be left out of the estate entirely. However, in most provinces, a common-law spouse may petition the courts for support as a dependent, leading the estate into litigation and further costs. No matter what your family situation, intestacy does not take into consideration any intentions you may have for the distribution of your estate. For your peace of mind today and your family's peace of mind tomorrow, making a Will is an easy, inexpensive solution.
Source: RBC Insurance
If you have any questions in regard to your will please feel free to contact us and we can point you in the right direction. We have recently be made aware of a new exciting legal policy for employee at a fairly low fee. This would include advice and assistance with creating or editing a will. We can be reached at 403-547-5236 or by email at sean.murray@beneco.ca
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Sean Murray
The Benefit Specialists Corp.
sean.murray@beneco.ca
(403) 547-5236 |
The information contained in this bulletin is for general information purposes only. The articles published in this bulletin have been collected by The Benefit Specialists Corp. (TBSC) and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits out of, or in connection with, the use of the information contained in this bulletin. Through this bulletin you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TBSC. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
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