Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 14th, 2009

[Rafael Fabregas]

That's correct. Generally there are employer-specific work permits. There are also open work permits where they can work in any occupation.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Both today and last Tuesday we heard a lot of disturbing comments with respect to working conditions, in particular in this instance at the Dhalla home. I'm assuming it's obvious there must be acceptable working and living conditions when somebody takes on a temporary foreign worker.

[Rafael Fabregas]

Certainly that's a question of whether or not the minimum employment standards have been met. That's really within the area of the provincial government.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Obviously fair wages will need to be paid.

Are temporary foreign workers eligible for—

[Peter Leibovitch]

The fair wages are based on.... It's a government responsibility. I just want to be clear.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Sorry, I hear you. I have some questions, but I'm going to get to you. I will get to you. I promise I'll get to you. I'm not trying to leave you out. I just have a lot of questions on process that I need to have answered.

Are the temporary foreign workers eligible for overtime?

[Rafael Fabregas]

Absolutely.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

They are? And I'm assuming that their wages must meet the minimum wage, which in Ontario I think is $9.50 an hour.

[Rafael Fabregas]

Well, quickly, minimum wage is exactly what it is: it's the baseline. It's the minimum standard. They're entitled to at least that amount or more.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Yes, okay. Now, with respect to the employers, I'm assuming that the employers are responsible for deductions--for instance, for income tax.

[Rafael Fabregas]

That's a tax question. There is a responsibility on the employer side to remit taxes after a certain period.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Okay. Are they responsible for employment insurance premiums?

[Rafael Fabregas]

My knowledge on that is very limited.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Is there anybody else who can answer that?

[Hassan Yussuff]

I don't think they're required to pay employment insurance, but I might be wrong on that.

[Peter Leibovitch]

Sorry. They're required under employment insurance. Caregivers are under employment insurance. In Ontario, they're under WSIB, they're under employment insurance, and they're eligible for overtime.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

And Canada Pension Plan contributions as well?

[Peter Leibovitch]

That one I'm not sure about.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

I know when I get paid, I get a statement of earnings--what I was paid, the deductions that are made. Is it reasonable to expect that the caregivers get the same type of--

[Peter Leibovitch]

First of all, yes on the CPP. Second of all, they need a record of their hours in order to get their immigration status. So there has to be a record of the hours worked, because it's based on the number of days that they have, and there has to be a record of it.

Rafael, you could probably explain what happens sometimes when an employer doesn't give records.

[Rafael Fabregas]

Let me just point to the document checklist for live-in caregivers when they apply for permanent residency. It lists, under required documents, a record of wages and deductions that is sent to Canada Revenue Agency by your employer, among other things. That is form IMM 5282, which is readily available on Citizenship and Immigration Canada's website.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

So obviously record-keeping is extraordinarily important for both the employer and the caregiver.

Would you ever advise an employer to pay in cash, or a caregiver to accept in cash?

[Rafael Fabregas]

Nobody has asked me whether they should, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Yes, it stands to reason that the employer is in a much more powerful position than the caregiver. If the employer wants to pay in cash, it's somewhat difficult for the employee, the caregiver, to reject it because of the way the system is.

[Rafael Fabregas]

I think it's generally accepted that the employer has most of the power in that relationship, and the caregivers are, generally speaking, at the whim of their employers' needs, I guess.