Employment Status, ROE & Termination

This section explains payroll language that matters when worker status affects payroll treatment and when employment changes or ends. It connects employee-versus-contractor status to ROEs, insurable and pensionable concepts, and termination-related pay terms.

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• Employee explains the worker status that usually triggers normal payroll withholding and reporting.
• Independent Contractor explains the status often contrasted with employee payroll treatment.
• Employee Vs Independent Contractor explains the gateway status question that can change deductions and reporting.
• Insurable Employment explains the status behind EI payroll treatment.
• Pensionable Employment explains the status behind CPP payroll treatment.
• ROE explains the Record of Employment in Canadian payroll context.
• Interruption Of Earnings explains the payroll event context that often leads to ROE review.
• Insurable Hours explains the hours concept that matters for reporting and ROE context.
• Final Pay explains the last payroll payment and how it can contain several different amounts.
• Pay in Lieu of Notice explains wages paid instead of requiring the employee to work a notice period.
• Severance Pay explains a separation-related payment that should be kept distinct from ordinary wages.

Questions This Section Answers

• How does employee-versus-contractor status change payroll treatment?
• When does the CRA status question affect source deductions, CPP, and EI?
• When does payroll need to think about an ROE?
• What does interruption of earnings mean in payroll context?
• What do insurable hours mean in reporting context?
• How is final pay different from severance pay?
• How is pay in lieu of notice different from severance pay?
• How does termination-related pay differ from ordinary wages?

Continue To

• Year-End Slips & Reporting for year-end slips that serve a different payroll purpose.
• Time, Leave & Special Pay for vacation pay and other special-pay terms that may intersect with final payroll.
• Statutory Deductions for insurable-earnings context that often sits nearby.

In this section

• Employee
  Worker status that triggers ordinary payroll withholding, remittance, slip, and recordkeeping obligations.
• Employee vs. Independent Contractor
  Status comparison that changes withholding, CPP, EI, slips, remittances, and CRA payroll treatment.
• Final Pay
  Last payroll payment after employment ends, often reviewed alongside vacation payouts, ROE timing, and termination amounts.
• Independent Contractor
  Non-employee work status usually handled outside ordinary payroll withholding and remittance treatment.
• Insurable Employment
  Employment status that determines whether EI premiums, insurable earnings, and ROE reporting apply.
• Insurable Hours
  Hours of insurable employment used for ROE and EI context, separate from insurable earnings and take-home pay.
• Interruption of Earnings
  Break in earnings that triggers ROE questions and changes the payroll records Service Canada may need.
• Pay in Lieu of Notice
  Termination pay made instead of working notice, distinct from final pay, severance pay, and ordinary wages.
• Pensionable Employment
  Employment status that determines whether CPP-related payroll treatment and pensionable earnings apply.
• ROE
  Record of Employment used when an interruption of earnings occurs, separate from a pay stub, final pay, or T4.
• Severance Pay
  Termination-related amount distinct from ordinary wages, final pay timing, and pay in lieu of notice.