Test yourself with these true and false statements
For Service Canada, the Record of Employment (ROE) is the most important document in its employment insurance (EI) program. It helps the federal government determine who qualifies for EI benefits, how much they should be paid and for how long.
Employers and payroll departments play a key role in the ROE process. According to Service Canada, more than one million Canadian employers complete more than nine million ROEs for employees each year. Mistakes in completing or filing an ROE can result in delays in processing benefit payments or in payment errors.
How well do you know your ROE responsibilities?
To find out, test yourself with these true or false statements.
Employers only need to complete an ROE if an employee plans to apply for EI benefits. True or False?
False. Employers must complete an ROE when an employee has an interruption of earnings, regardless of whether the employee plans to apply for EI benefits.
Employers have to issue ROEs if they change the type of pay period they use. True or False?
True. Service Canada requires employers to issue ROEs for all employees, regardless of whether they have an interruption of earnings if the employer changes its pay period type (for example, going from bi-weekly pay periods to monthly pay periods).
The ROE should cover each employee’s period of employment up to the change in pay period type. If, at a later time, an employer needs to issue an ROE because an employee has an interruption of earnings, the new ROE should cover the period of employment from the change in pay period type to the interruption of earnings.
Employers must issue ROEs to all individuals who have an interruption of earnings. True or False?
False. ROEs are only issued for employees who are paid insurable earnings and who work insurable hours (for example, if an employee does not deal at arm’s length with an employer, the employee’s earnings and hours are not insurable).
Employers that not certain whether earnings or hours are insurable should contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for a ruling since this is something you do not want to be wrong about.
An interruption of earnings occurs when an employee has seven consecutive working days with no work and no insurable earnings. True or False?
False. The timeline is seven consecutive calendar days with no work and no insurable earnings.
The seven-day rule for an interruption of earnings does not apply to commission-based employees. True or False?
True. If an employee’s earnings are made up mostly of commissions, an interruption of earnings occurs only when his employment contract is terminated or he stops working because of illness, injury, quarantine, maternity or parental leave, compassionate care leave or leave to look after a critically ill child.
Employers have to store a copy of ROEs for six years. True or False?
True and false. Employers have to keep all payroll records related to an ROE for six years after the year to which the information relates. As for ROEs themselves, if an employer issues paper ROEs, it must keep part three of the completed form for the six-year period. If an employer issues electronic ROEs, it does not have to keep paper copies but it must save the data relating to the forms for the six-year period.
To cancel an ROE that has already been issued, employers must prepare and send a letter about the cancellation to Service Canada and the employee, citing the serial number of the ROE to be cancelled. True or False?
False. Employers cannot cancel ROEs they have already issued. To correct an ROE, employers must issue an amended one. If the employer completed an ROE by mistake, it must issue an amended ROE and indicate in Block 18 (Comments) that the first ROE was an error.
In Block 10 (First day worked), the date employers enter is not always an employee’s first day of employment with the employer. True or False.
True. If an employer is issuing an ROE for an employee for the first time, the date entered in Block 10 would be the first day for which the employer paid the employee insurable earnings. However, if the employer has previously issued an ROE for the employee, the date reported in Block 10 would be the first day the employee worked after her last interruption of earnings.
A salary continuance paid to a terminating employee can affect the date an employer issues an ROE. True or False?
True. With a salary continuance, an employer continues to pay an employee regular earnings for a specified period. Since the employee is still receiving insurable earnings, there is no interruption of earnings and no need to issue an ROE until the salary continuance ends. When completing Block 11 (Last day for which paid), report the last day of the salary continuance rather than the employee’s last physical day of work.
When reporting insurable hours, make sure each overtime hour worked is reported as 1.5 hours. True or False?
False. One hour of overtime work equals one hour of insurable employment, regardless of the overtime rate the employer paid the employee. Report the actual number of hours of overtime that the employee worked. If an employee takes overtime hours as leave (for example, through an overtime bank), the insurable hours are the number of hours the employee takes in leave.
All hours associated with statutory holiday pay are insurable and must be reported on an ROE. True or False?
False. Statutory holiday pay is always insurable, but the hours associated with it may or may not be insurable, depending on when the holiday occurred and whether the employee’s departure from the employer is final.
If you paid an employee statutory holiday pay for a holiday that occurred before the date reported in Block 11 (Last day for which paid), include the statutory holiday hours in the employee’s total insurable hours reported on the ROE.
If the holiday occurred after the date reported in Block 11, the holiday hours are insurable only if the employee’s separation from work is not final (for example, the employee is taking a leave of absence but will return to work). If the employee’s departure is final (for example, the employee is quitting or is fired), hours associated with a paid statutory holiday that falls after the date reported in Block 11 are not insurable and should not be included in the total insurable hours reported on an ROE.
An employee can have an interruption of earnings if her salary falls below 60 per cent of regular weekly
earnings. True or False?
True. An interruption of earnings can happen when an employee’s salary falls below 60 per cent of his regular weekly earnings because of illness, injury, quarantine, maternity or parental leave, compassionate care leave or leave to care for a critically ill child.
Employers should always use Block 18 (Comments) to provide more information on an ROE. True or False?
False. Service Canada only wants employers to use Block 18 to report “specific details about exceptional circumstances.” Do not write comments that only reiterate information reported elsewhere on the form. If comments are entered in Block 18, Service Canada has to remove the ROE from its automated system and manually review it, slowing down the time it takes to process the form and possibly delaying EI benefit payments.
When an employee retires, always use code G to identify the retirement in Block 16 (Reason for issuing ROE). True or False?
False. Only use code G if an employee is leaving due to mandatory retirement or a workforce reduction program Service Canada has approved. If the employee is retiring voluntarily, use code E (Quit).
To report a retirement due to a work-force reduction that Service Canada has approved, choose the “Approved work-force reduction” option in the applicable drop-down menu if using ROE Web. If using a paper ROE, use Block 18 to enter “Approved work-force reduction.”
When reporting separation payments in Block 17 (Separation payments), only report those that are insurable.
True or False?
False. Employers must report all separation payments in Block 17 whether or not they are insurable. Payments that are insurable must also be reported in Blocks 15B (Total insurable earnings) and 15C (Insurable earnings by pay period) if required.
Employers must always issue an ROE within five days of an employee’s interruption of earnings. True or False?
True and False. Employers that still use paper ROEs must issue them within five calendar days of the first day of an interruption of earnings or the day they learn about the interruption.
If an employer uses electronic ROEs (such as ROE Web), the date for issuing them depends on the employer’s pay period type and the day on which an employee’s interruption of earnings occurred. If the pay period is weekly, bi-weekly or semi-monthly, the employer must issue the ROE within five calendar days after the end of the pay period in which an employee has an interruption of earnings.
Employers with monthly pay periods or 13 pay periods a year must issue electronic ROEs within five calendar days after the end of the pay period in which an employee has an interruption of earnings or 15 calendar days after the first day of the interruption of earnings, whichever comes first.
If you got most of the questions correct, congratulations! Readers wishing to know more may refer to Service Canada’s ROE website at www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/services/ei/employers/roe/index.shtml.
