BLOCK 11 for Record of Employment (ROE) Form
The employers would need to enter the last day for which the employee received insurable earnings in Block 11. This date will usually coincide with the employee’s last day of work.
However, in some cases, employees could continue to receive insurable earnings even after their last day of work. This is typically the situation in case of paid leave comprising:
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Vacations
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Sick leave
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Earned days off or,
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Salary continuance (refer to the section titled ‘Salary Continuance’ that appears subsequently in this document)
In these situations, the employers would need to enter the date of the last day of paid leave in Block 11. However, they would need to ensure that this date is not a statutory holiday. For more details on the process for reporting statutory holidays, employers would need to go through ‘Block 17B: The Statutory Holiday Pay’ that appears subsequently in this document.
For instance, consider a situation where Martha, an employee, becomes ill and has to stop working for a while. Her last day of work was on May 07, 2015. She began receiving sick leave payments at this time. It is worth mentioning that the authorities consider these payments as insurable earnings. She received 10 paid sick days until May 21, 2015. When the employer completes Block 11 of Martha’s Record of Employment (ROE), the employer would put the date 21 May, 2015.
Note:
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In some cases, the employer might owe an employee unpaid wages on separation because of the employer’s bankruptcy, receivership or impending receivership
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In this scenario, the employer would need to enter the last day for which the employer owes these wages
For instance, consider a situation where several employees of a construction company receive a notice that informs them that they would be laid off on November 30. Their pay period is monthly. However, because of their employer’s bankruptcy, they do not receive their last pay cheque on November 30. In this scenario, the employer would need to enter 30 November as the last day for which paid in Block 11. This is applicable even though the employer has not paid these employees for their last month of work.
The Salary Continuance
Salary continuances could well form part of a severance package. In this scenario, the employer would pay the employee a salary continuance instead of a lump-sum payment on separation. Under a salary continuance, the employee would continue to receive a regular pay cheque. In addition, the employee would continue to remain entitled for receiving the employee benefits for a specific time period. It is worth mentioning that there is no interruption of earnings between the last day worked and the beginning of the salary continuance. In fact, until the salary continuance ceases, there will be no interruption of earnings. For this reason, the employer would not be able to issue the Record of Employment (ROE) until the end of the salary continuance period. In Block 11, the employer would need to enter the last day of the salary continuance period and not the last day worked.
Some employers might have questions on what a salary continuance typically constitutes. In this scenario, they would need to contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).