Payroll Services is primarily responsible for processing 3 separate payroll groups (approximately 8000 employees) while adhering to Employment Standards Act 2000 (ESA), The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) and 10 Collective Agreements. Payroll groups include Monthly paid employees, bi-weekly CUPE 229 paid employees, and bi-weekly Casual employees.
Other tasks include monthly reconciliation of payroll-related deductions & corresponding payments to third party vendors (various unions, Queen’s Pension Plan, GWL, CRA, EHT, WSIB, RESP, and United Way).
Emergency or off-cycle cheques are processed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The initial request for an off-cycle cheque is done via Client Services, Human Resources. Please see the policies tab of the Financial Services website for more details.
The main responsibilities of Payroll Services include:
- Issuance of Records of Employment (ROE)
- Banking & Tax form (TD 1& TD1-ON) updates
- Garnishment administration
- Overpayment calculations and corresponding employee billings & collections
- Retro, SUB Plan and late hire calculations & additional payments
- Service Provider deduction uploads (ARC, Parking, Mobile, Advancement)
- PeopleSoft HCM payroll maintenance, testing and reporting
- Payroll-related analysis & reporting of Annual Charities, Fiscal Salary & Benefits and departmental GL issues
- Employee UHIP administration
- External Audits (CRA, EHT, WSIB)
- Annual CRA reporting of T4 & T4A for employees
- Coordination of Queen's T4A Box 105 for Student Awards, Graduate Research Assistants (GRA) and Student Tuition Payments
Email: payroll.services@queensu.ca
- Request a Social Insurance Number from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
- Change your MyHR self-service banking information?
- Request a copy of your Tax Slip?
- Find Monthly Cut-Off Rules?
- Is your Service Provider an Employee or an Independent Contractor?
CPP changes effective 2012:
- All employees aged 60 to 65 will be required to make CPP contributions even if they are receiving a CPP retirement pension.
- All employees aged 65 to 70 who are receiving a CPP retirement pension will be required to contribute unless they have elected to stop their CPP contributions.
- To elect to stop contributing to CPP, employees will have to be at least 65 years of age and do the following:
- Employees will have to complete
- Employees must send the original to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
- Employees must send a copy to Payroll Services, Financial Services.
- The election will take effect on the first day of the month after the employee gives the form to Payroll Services.
Benefit Changes:
- Changes to CPP retirement pension benefits began in 2011 and will continue to be phased in until 2016.
- If you are retired, or are planning your retirement, you are encouraged to visit the Government of Canada - Canada Pension Plan Overview page for tools and information that may affect you.
Effective January 1, 2019, a $10 initiation fee will be deducted from the wages of each new member of the bargaining unit for USW Locals 2010 (General Staff) and 2010-01 (Academic Assistants). A "new member of the bargaining unit" refers to an individual who becomes employed, for the first time, in a position within the scope of either the USW Local 2010 or the USW Local 2010-01 bargaining units. An individual who was previously employed under one of those agreements is not required to pay an initiation fee if they are subsequently re-employed under either of those agreements.
For clarity, if an individual holds appointments within both Union Locals, only one initiation fee will be deducted.
Please contact the Employee and Labour Relations Unit with any questions.
Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)
This payroll deduction plan was made possible by a partnership between Queen's and the Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan.
Participants in the Queen's RESP plan benefit from the Canadian Education Savings Grant (CESG) announced in the 1998 federal budget. The Canadian government contributes 20 cents for every dollar you save into your child's CST plan to an annual maximum of $500. This additional 20% to a child's plan applies to the first $2,500 you contribute to an RESP in any calendar year and continues annually until the year your child turns 17. In addition to your returns from the CST Plan, this 20% will also accrue compounded interest within the tax shelter.
Under this plan, Queen's also intends to form a scholarship for children of Queen's employees who attend Queen's University.
Investigate how this program can benefit your family by contacting the Canadian Scholarship Trust Plan at Queen's (1-866-795-9407 Ext. 404 or by email at resp@queensu.ca)
Regular salary payments are made on the dates indicated on the published payroll calendars. Under normal circumstances, if a salary payment is missed, the University will make pay adjustments on the employees next regular pay. In emergency cases, Payroll Services will issue the employee an off-cycle payment.
Payment will be issued:
- Employees with active banking, a direct deposit will be issued
- Employees with no active banking, a cheque will be issued
Please note the unit requesting the off-cycle payment will be charged a $200 service fee to produce an off-cycle payment.
An employer is required to issue a ROE each time there is an interruption of earnings for an employee. Employees can request an ROE by filling out an ROE Request Form (PDF, 52.8 KB) and submitting it to Payroll Services..
Once the ROE has been submitted electronically, it can then be viewed by the employee online at any time. You can view the Record of Employment (ROE) submitted electronically by Queen’s to Service Canada by accessing the My Service Canada Account online service. To register and access this service, you will need a Government of Canada Personal Access Code (PAC).
Monthly paid Employees:
A net monthly amount is deposited into the employee's account in a bank or credit union in Canada on the last working day of each month.
Government regulations require that deductions be taken for Income tax, Canada Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance. Other deductions, including those to the University's benefits program, are based on each employee's individual circumstances
Bi-Weekly CUPE 229 Employees:
CUPE 229 employees are paid bi-weekly through the PeopleSoft Time & Labor system. Timesheet / schedule information is entered into this system by each departmental Timekeeper.
Government regulations require that deductions be taken for Income tax, Canada Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance. Other deductions, including those to the University's benefits program, are based on each employee's individual circumstances.
Casual Employees:
Casual employees are paid through the PeopleSoft Time & Labor system. Timesheet information is entered into this system by each departmental Timekeeper. Appropriate deductions are taken for Income tax, Canada Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance.
Salary Pay Advice Slip:
Each payday, a complete statement showing salary and deductions, known as a Salary Pay Advice slip, is made available either electronically via MyHR self-service or via a paper copy sent to the employee’s departmental address.
Please refer to Employee Tools (sharepoint.com)
The Independent Contractor Questionnaire (ICQ) will determine whether a Service Provider is an Employee or an Independent Contractor.
- Read the Engagement of Independent Contractor Procedure
- Prior to the work/service being provided and in conjunction with the Service Provider, complete the Independent Contractor Questionnaire (ICQ) (XLS, 72.6 KB)
Please note: The ICQ must be completed in Excel in order for the Form to deliver an instant result.
If you have any questions, please contact Christina Blanchard (Associate Director, Payroll)
Overview
A taxable benefit is a payment from an employer to an employee that primarily benefits the employee. The benefit can be in the form of cash or near cash or other types of payments.
Taxable benefits paid to employees are subject to statutory deductions including Income tax (CIT), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI). On behalf of Queen’s University, Payroll Services is responsible for the following:
1) Calculating and deducting applicable taxes on taxable benefits
2) Remitting both employee and employer shares of taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), as well as, remitting employer premiums for Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and Employer Health Tax (EHT)
3) Reporting the taxable benefits on the employee’s T4 tax slip
Process
When an employee receives a taxable benefit, the employee’s department is responsible to report this benefit to Payroll Services. To ensure timely processing of taxable benefits, departments should refer to the payroll dates & cut off schedules found on the Financial Services website under Resources.
Payroll Services will upload and process these benefits with the regular pay process. Statutory deductions including CIT, CPP and EI will be calculated and deducted from the employee’s pay. Employer shares of CPP and EI, EHT and WSIB premiums, will be charged to the employee’s department who provided the taxable benefit.
Taxable benefits are reported on an employee’s T4 tax slip in Box 14, Employment Income and a secondary box depending on the taxable benefit received.
Additional Information
- Taxable Benefits For Employees Information (PDF, 641.5 KB)
- Link to CRA website T4130 (PDF, 386.3 KB)
- Taxable Benefits Worksheet Example (PDF, 10.8 KB)
- Taxable Benefits Worksheet (PDF, 12.2 KB)
Contact
For additional information please contact Michelle McFadzen or Christina Blanchard
HR PeopleSoft Pay Advice Slips
The HR PeopleSoft pay advice slip includes information on earnings, benefits and taxes. To see an image of a pay advice slip with an explanation of its components, please see:
Sample HR PeopleSoft Pay Advice Slip (PDF, 217 KB)
Overview
The HR PeopleSoft pay advice slip layout is designed to facilitate easy reading, and provides employees with detail to better understand their pay. The pay advice slip also includes the employee’s home address, department, location, job title, rate of pay, employer paid benefits, comprehensive tax data, and a list of hours and earnings.
The main content of the pay advice slip is broken into:
- Employee and Job Information, which details the employee’s ID, department, location, and pay rate. (For employees with more than one job within the University, their primary job and pay rate will show on this part of the pay advice slip.)
- Hours and Earnings, which includes both regular pay and also additional earnings such as child care allowance, tuition support plan, and overtime. Note: - Vacation, leave, and sick time taken will also be reported here. -Employees with more than one job on the same pay cycle (e.g. monthly) will find the earnings amount for each job displayed separately; employees paid on different cycles (e.g. bi-weekly and monthly) will receive separate pay advice slip.
- Taxes – i.e. Canadian Income Tax (CIT), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI)
- Before-Tax Deductions, including Queen’s pension, voluntary pension, and union dues.
- After-Tax Deductions, for benefits and voluntary deductions (e.g. Parking) paid by the employee.
- Employer Paid Benefits, for benefits paid by Queen’s such as dental, supplementary medical and life insurance, and pension.
The total gross, CIT taxable amount, total taxes, total deductions, and net pay are then calculated using the data in these categories.