Highlights
- Managing a Canadian workforce involves dealing with a handful of challenges, from processing payroll correctly to providing competitive employee benefits.
- Companies hiring Canadian talent might need help navigating an international market with specific labor laws and tax policies.
- At OuiPay we provide end-to-end payroll solutions for Canadian businesses and assist you at every stage of the HR cycle. Contact us for a customized solution.
The way you manage your workforce can make or break business success. Implementing the right HR best practices is crucial to ensure employees get paid on time, have access to competitive benefits, and stay compliant with ever-evolving labor regulations.
To stay on top of their game, companies need to review their HR best practices from time to time, to ensure they are still relevant and aligned with their business goals. Also, it might be useful to evaluate if any time-consuming administrative tasks could be automated.
To help you out, we’ve put together a list of the top HR best practices to handle payroll, benefits, and other HR tasks for your Canadian employees.
Let’s get started!
1 – Hire Qualified Canadian Talent Successfully
Hiring Canadian talent is a great opportunity for businesses seeking to expand their workforce across borders. Considering that 85% of Canadian workers are interested in hybrid or fully remote positions, the timing might be perfect for bringing them on board.
However, breaking into an international market with its own regulatory and tax policies can be a real challenge for HR teams.
Planning on hiring Canadian talent this year? Keep this in mind:
- Tap into local talent pools. Use local job boards, community networks, and universities to connect with Canadian talent. Engage in partnerships with educational institutions to create internship programs or attend career fairs to attract fresh graduates.
- Partner with an Employer of Record (EOR). An EOR helps businesses operate in different markets by taking care of all the complex tasks such as payroll administration, benefits, taxes, and compliance. At OuiPay we provide EOR services and professional guidance for companies seeking to operate in Canada, making the process much simpler and more stress-free.
2 – Set up an Efficient Process to Track Time & Attendance
Managing employee time and attendance is a critical HR function. This goes beyond a routine task: it has a direct impact on your employees’ salaries and your business productivity.
“Under Canadian law, employers are required to keep an accurate record of the hours worked by their employees”.
— HRD Canada
Adopting a reliable time-tracking solution is key to making this process more efficient and ensuring accuracy when processing payments.
What to look for in a time & attendance tracking solution? Here are a few tips:
- Choose a user-friendly system. Look for a time and attendance solution that is easy to use for both employees and HR staff. Consider features such as online timesheets, mobile accessibility, and customizable reporting options.
- Automate time capture. Implement a system that automatically captures your employee’s clock-ins, clock-outs, and breaks. This reduces the administrative burden and eliminates manual errors that may hurt your payroll calculations.
- Integrate with payroll software. Seek a time-tracking solution that integrates with your payroll software. This integration ensures that your employee’s time records are directly transferred to the payroll system, minimizing data entry and reducing the chances of errors.
3 – Provide a Strong Employee Benefits Package
Whether to attract new talent or to retain current employees, having a strong benefits package is a must for every business.
A recent survey revealed that 20% of Canadian employers have had new talent slip through their fingers in the past few months because they couldn’t compete on salary and benefits.
As we face economic uncertainty and reduced budgets, companies need to rethink their benefits offer and make sure they align with employee expectations.
“Offering meaningful benefits, with a clear focus on flexibility, will continue to play a key role.”
— Ian Kinsella, Managing Director of Morgan McKinley Canada.
Consider this if you are reshaping your employee’s benefits strategy this year:
- Assess the needs of your Canadian workforce. Conduct surveys or focus groups to understand your employees’ wants and needs. Customize your benefits package, accordingly, ensuring it aligns with their lifestyles and priorities.
- Offer health and wellness programs. Promote a healthy and happy work environment by providing benefits like gym memberships, mental health support, and wellness workshops.
- Provide flexible work arrangements. Emphasize flexibility by offering options such as remote work, flexible hours, or compressed workweeks. Promoting a healthier work-life balance can have a very positive impact on employee satisfaction and productivity.
Make sure to have an easy-to-use payroll preparation system to simplify the process of calculating and deducting employee benefits and avoid any potential errors.
4 – Use Automated Software to Process Payroll with Accuracy and On Time
Making sure that your employees are paid on time and accurately involves a series of complex HR tasks. You need to calculate employee’s worked hours but also calculate wages, union dues, benefits, expenses, and deductions.
Payroll errors not only can have legal consequences but also damage your business reputation.
“Just two payroll errors can cause 49% of employees to start job hunting.”
— The Workforce Institute at UKG
No matter the size of your business, using a software solution to automate and manage your entire payroll process is certainly the best way to go. Why rely on spreadsheets and calculators if you can have a more cost-effective system?
Follow these tips to handle payroll effectively and free your HR team from tedious, routinary tasks:
- Automate payroll processes. Choose a payroll software to automate calculations, deductions, tax withholdings, and direct deposits. This streamlines the entire payroll process, reduces manual errors, and ensures compliance with employment regulations. When comparing options, check out the features of each payroll solution to ensure they fit your business needs.
- Stay updated with tax legislation. Stay informed about the latest tax laws, employment standards, and labor regulations applicable to payroll processing in Canada.
5 – Stay Compliant with Canadian Labor Laws
Canadian labor laws are constantly evolving, and HR professionals must stay compliant to avoid legal risks.
Here are some tips to stay compliant this year:
- Stay informed. Regularly monitor updates to labor laws, employment standards, and workplace regulations. Subscribe to relevant newsletters, attend seminars, or engage with legal professionals specialized in labor and employment law.
- Document everything. Maintain accurate and updated records of employee information, contracts, policies, and any changes made to terms and conditions of employment. This documentation will serve as evidence of compliance during audits or legal proceedings.
- Regular compliance audits. Conducting regular audits can help you identify and address any gaps or areas of improvement, reducing legal risks and promoting a compliant workplace culture.
When managing a Canadian workforce, HR teams need to stay on top of many tasks, from processing payroll to ensuring every employee stays compliant with Canadian labor laws.
As the world of work keeps evolving, it’s important to ensure that your HR best practices are aligned with market trends and employee expectations.
At OuiPay we provide customized end-to-end payroll solutions for Canadian businesses and global businesses with Canadian employees. Outsourcing payroll can save your HR team valuable time while ensuring that all your employees are paid accurately and on time.
Request a quote to learn more about our payroll services!