Since the country’s first cases of COVID-19, the Government of Canada has provided many relief measures, such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), to support the population during this unprecedented period. For its part, Nethris has developed various tools to help you manage these different measures effectively.

This page lists the different support measures put in place by the government, as well as our solutions to help you benefit from them.

For more information on the most recent updates regarding the Government of Canada’s support measures, refer to the Useful links section below.

On this page:

• • • • • The tools developed by Nethris
        • How to issue a record of employment
        • How to rehire or reactivate an employee
        • Useful links

THE TOOLS DEVELOPED BY NETHRIS

COVID-19 Wage Subsidy CEWS/CRHP Report (SPD620)
Designed by Nethris, the COVID-19 CEWS/CRHP (SPD620) report takes into consideration the two (2) types of subsidies offered by the federal government, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the recent Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP), which came into effect on June 6, 2021.

It is important to note, however, that you cannot benefit from both the CEWS and the CRHP simultaneously. Therefore, you will be required to choose which subsidy is the most advantageous for each claim period.

To obtain the information you need to use the CEWS/CRHP calculation tool provide by the Government of Canada, Nethris is providing you with the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy CEWS/CRHP (SPD620) report, which is the recommended solution for all our clients, whether you are a Nethris Internet Suite or Telephone payroll user.

This report allows you to obtain the following information:

CEWS section:

• The average of wages paid from January 1 to March 15, 2020, per employee;
• The calculation of CEWS eligible earnings for each claim period according to the “period end date” method, based on clarifications provided by the Government of Canada[1];
• The data for earning code G98 – Hr. COVID N-Work.

CRHP section:

• The baseline remuneration for wages earned from March 14 to April 10, 2021;
• The calculation of CRHP eligible earnings for each claim period based on the “end date” method as per clarifications provided by the Government of Canada.

Note: The data for earning code G98 – Hr. COVID N-Work is NOT eligible for the CRHP and is therefore not included in the calculation of eligible earnings.

For further details on using the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy CEWS/CRHP (SPD620) report, we invite you to refer to the “SPD620 – COVID-19 CEWS/CRHP report and preprocessing_Nethris Internet Suite” or the “SPD620 – COVID-19 CEWS/CRHP report_Telephone Payroll” procedure, available in Nethris’s Documentation section (? > Documentation > COVID-19 Documents).

Therefore, please note that:

• You may have to make a few adjustments to the report to cover the application claim period;
• For clients who manage their payroll on a biweekly basis while specifying the hours worked each week, the average wages are calculated as if your payroll was processed weekly, therefore minimizing the need for manual adjustments.

¹ It is important to note that all CEWS/CRHP applications must be made based on your pay period end dates (end dates) rather than on the dates wages are paid (payable dates).

Payment of employees on leave
An earning code (G98 – HR. COVID N-Work) was created to help you isolate and easily identify wages paid to employees on leave. It will make it easier for you when comes time to request a reimbursement for the contributions remitted for these earnings. In effect, for all wages paid to employees on leave with pay, the Government of Canada credits the CEWS-eligible employers for the following employer-paid contributions:

• Employment Insurance
• Canada Pension Plan
• Quebec Pension Plan
• Quebec Parental Insurance Plan

Employers must continue to deduct and remit employee and employer contributions for each program. They must then request a credit for the employer-paid contributions when submitting their CEWS application. This reimbursement covers 100% of the above-mentioned contributions for each week the eligible employees are on paid leave during the targeted period.

COVID-19 Wages per payment date system report
The COVID-19 Wages per payment date system report allows Nethris Internet Suite users to identify the information required to make the necessary calculations pertaining to a CEWS application.

This report is available under the Nethris Internet Suite’s Reports tab (Reports > Report generator > Reports list). You should use this report if you have the Report Generator solution and manage over 20 eligible earnings.

To guide you on how to use this report, a procedure is available in the Documentation section (?  > Documentation > COVID-19 Documents) of the Nethris Internet Suite.

Payroll record (SPD603)
The Payroll record (SPD603) report allows Telephone Payroll users to identify the information required to make the necessary calculations pertaining to a CEWS application.

This report can be generated under the Reports tab (Reports > Payroll results > Payroll reports). You should use this report if you do not have the Report Generator solution or if you have less than 20 eligible earnings.

To guide you on how to use this report, a procedure is available in the Documentation section (? > Documentation > COVID-19 Documents) of the Nethris Internet Suite.

HOW TO ISSUE A RECORD OF EMPLOYMENT

Laying off an employee can be difficult, but transmitting a record of employment should not be. Whether you are issuing your records of employment in paper or electronic format (ROE Web or ROE SAT), we invite you to watch our video tutorials that will guide you in the issuing of these documents. They are available in Nethris Internet Suite’s User Help, under the Video Tutorials section. You will also find our detailed procedures.

COVID-19 ROE ISSUING GUIDELINES

If you have employees who have stopped working due to COVID-19, you need to make sure to issue their ROEs on time. To guide you, Service Canada has released the following additional information:

Block 16 – Reason for issuing this ROE
Block 16 should indicate the reason for the employee’s leave or separation from employment, or the reason why the ROE is being issued. Don’t add comments unless absolutely necessary.

When the employee is no longer working because the business has decreased operations or closed due to COVID-19, use code A (shortage of work).

When the employee is sick or quarantined, use code D (illness or injury).

When the employee refuses to come to work but is not sick or quarantined, use code E (quit) or code N (leave of absence), as appropriate.

COVID-19 vaccination
When the employee doesn’t report to work because they refuse to comply with your mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, use code E (quit) or code N (leave of absence).

When you suspend or terminate an employee for not complying with your mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, use code M (dismissal or suspension).

If you use these codes, Service Canada may contact you to determine:

• if you had adopted and clearly communicated to all employees a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy
• if the employees were informed that failure to comply with the policy would result in loss of employment
• if the application of the policy to the employee was reasonable within the workplace context
• if there were any exemptions for refusing to comply with the policy

Opt for electronic records of employment
Are you issuing records of employment in paper format? To simplify transmission, opt for the electronic option (ROE SAT). With this service, your employees will be able to access a copy of their ROE via My Service Canada Account (MSCA), within two business days of its production. You can request this service by sending an email to support.payroll@nethris.com.

HOW TO REHIRE OR REACTIVATE AN EMPLOYEE

The government wage subsidies or the gradual revival of the economy may prompt you to rehire your workers. The Nethris Internet Suite users that wish to carry out the rehiring process on our solutions can simply follow the steps detailed in User Help. It is important to remember to indicate the employee date of rehire.

However, if you only need to reactivate temporarily inactive employees, you can do so from their employee file (HR > Employment profile > Employment and compensation). You simply need to modify the Availability field and select “Active“.

Are you a Telephone Payroll user? Simply inform us of the modifications required during your next payroll data entry. If, however, you have more than five (5) modifications to make, send them to us via email at support.payroll@nethris.com, at least two (2) business days before your next payroll processing.

N.B. There are no additional fees for the rehiring of employees.

USEFUL LINKS

Here are a few useful links to help you better understand the main support programs put in place by the Government of Canada in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic:

• Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan
• Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
• Frequently asked questions: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
• Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) – Application guide
• CEWS amounts to remain unchanged through June 2021
• Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP)
• Frequently Asked Questions: Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP)

Thank you to all entrepreneurs!
Like the Government of Canada, Nethris encourages businesses to keep their employees on the payroll or rehire them if they can afford to do so. An employee represents a significant investment; they must be recruited, welcomed, trained and equipped to contribute to your SME profitability. In our view, your employees are a valuable resource and have the know-how to ensure the success of your activities.

We wish to profess our heartfelt admiration for all the employers contributing to the prosperity of the Canadian economy.