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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance

Practitioner Program’s Work Experience
Requirement Electronic Application
PCP - WERA
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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance Practitioner Program’s Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (PCP — WERA)
 In order to obtain the Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) certification, you must have at least one (1) year
of weighted payroll work experience. Candidates have a ten (10) year Eligibility window in which to satisfy
the one (1) year requirement. The ten (10) year window is determined based on each candidate’s PCP Work
Experience (PCPWE) Eligibility Date.
Students completing courses on a part time and online basis must obtain the work experience requirement
within five (5) years after the start date of their first Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) course.
Students completing the PCP courses as part of a full time private career college must obtain the work
experience requirement within six (6) years after the start date of their first Payroll Compliance Practitioner
(PCP) course.
Students completing the PCP courses as part of a full time public college academic program must obtain
the work experience requirement within seven (7) years after the start date of their first Payroll Compliance
Practitioner (PCP) course.
The work experience calculation will be weighted based on the percentage of time specifically spent
administering or processing payroll and completing other payroll responsibilities, paying employees accurately
and on time in compliance with legislative requirements, and contributing to the full annual payroll cycle.
Your payroll experience must be demonstrated to the National Payroll Institute using the PCP – Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (WERA) process, as described in the guidelines below. This
process must be followed when submitting your Work Experience Requirement Application.
This guide will assist you in completing the application and will describe the supporting documentation
required. Your experience must be verified by your employer/manager/supervisor.

Note: A verifier is a person who is/was your direct reporting supervisor/manager and has
a professional business relationship with you (family members are not eligible to be verifiers).
The email address you provide for your verifier must be professional (company specific).
Verifier emails from Hotmail, Rogers, Gmail, or other personal accounts will not be permitted.

To submit your application(s), please follow these guidelines:

• I f, in your current position, you have at least one (1) year of weighted payroll work experience, submit one
application for that position.
• I f, in your current position, you have less than one (1) year of weighted payroll work experience, and you
have other applicable payroll experience within your eligibility window, submit a separate application for
each position to be verified.
• I f you are not currently working in payroll, but your weighted payroll work experience totals one(1)year
within the past five (5) years, submit one application for each applicable position(s) to be verified that
cumulatively total(s) a period of one (1) year.

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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance Practitioner Program’s Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (PCP — WERA)
 DOCUMENTATION CHECK LIST
The following documents must be submitted with your application in order for it to be considered complete
and ready for assessment by the National Payroll Institute. Each position is assessed individually, so an
application and supporting documentation is required for every payroll position being verified.
• A
 current chronological resume that includes all relevant payroll employment history includingapplicable
start and end dates (list both month and year) for each position up to the date ofapplication.
• A job description for the payroll position being submitted.
• A completed electronic application verified by your employer/manager/supervisor.

APPLICATION ACCESS
Access to the PCP Work Experience Application will be provided to you through the “Certification
Declaration” email that is sent to all eligible PCP candidates once the educational requirements are met. Using
the link provided to you by the National Payroll Institute, access the PCP-WERA online. An email will be
sent to you with your access login information as well.

Step 1 – Completed by the Candidate

Electronic PCP- WERA

Fill out the application carefully, attach your chronological resume and job description and submit
it to your verifier.
Part 1: My Profile – this is the candidate profile page, which is pre-populated with your National
Payroll Institute number, first name, last name, email, and phone number, as it appears in the
National Payroll Institute’s member database. This information cannot be edited. Any required
revisions must be made immediately by logging onto the contact information page under ‘My
Profile’ on the National Payroll Institute’s website at payroll.ca. Your National Payroll Institute
number will be required. Please allow 24 hours for the information to be updated in the Electronic
application.
Part 2: Position for Verification – this is the position profile page, where you must enter
your position title, organization name, mailing address, position start date and position end date
(if applicable) for each position being assessed and verified. You must also provide the name of
your direct supervisor/verifier for each position being verified, as well as their title, phone number
and professional email address. Verifier email addresses must be professional and company specific.
Verifier emails from Hotmail, Rogers, Gmail, or other personal accounts will not be permitted.
Part 3: Business Profile – this is where information about the organization and the position being
submitted for assessment is entered, including the number of employees at the organization and
the type of industry (i.e. private, public, self-employed, etc.).

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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance Practitioner Program’s Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (PCP — WERA)
 Part 4: Payroll Experience – in this section you are required to upload a job description of the
position being assessed along with a “reverse chronological” resume with your most recent position
listed first. You will not be able to continue with the application until both attachments are in place.
You will also need to enter the percentage of your time spent on payroll activities in the position.
This is the aspect of the assessment that makes the requirement weighted. The number of approved
months of experience will ultimately be multiplied by this percentage in order to determine the
number of months that you have actually been obtaining payroll specific experience.
You will also be required to enter the percentage of time you have spent on eight broad payroll
categories as well as indicate, using check boxes, the specific sub-activities you complete as part
of your responsibilities. The sum of the percentages entered for the categories must equal 100%
indicating the full breakdown of your payroll specific responsibilities. Not every category is
required for a candidate’s position to be accepted. Some positions could have several categories at
0% that would still qualify.
Part 5: Candidate’s Communication - this section will pose two questions relating to
your written and verbal skills (in either French or English depending on your primary language
indicated) to help determine if you would benefit from resources to help you succeed.
The response indicated on these questions will not affect your overall rating.
Part 6: Candidate’s Declaration – this is the final section of the application. You must declare
that all information provided is complete, accurate and aligned with the National Payroll Institute’s
Professional Code of Conduct in order for the application to be submitted to your employer/
manager/supervisor for verification of the content and ultimately to the National Payroll Institute
for assessment.
You will not be able to submit the application if any of the required fields or supporting
documentation is missing.

Note: If you have/had a business providing payroll services and do not have a current or past
employer, you can use a person with whom you have a professional relationship (e.g. a client).
In this case, you may be contacted by the National Payroll Institute for an interview.

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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance Practitioner Program’s Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (PCP — WERA)
 Step 2 – Completed by the Verifier
Once the application is submitted, an email will be issued automatically to your employer/manager/
supervisor, providing a link to the application and explaining the role of the verifier. At the top of
each application screen, directions are provided to the verifier, instructing them to review each section
of the application. Verifiers will not be able to edit any part of your original submission.
The verifier’s responsibility is to review the application, confirm that the information portrayed is
accurate, provide feedback and submit the verified PCP-WERA to the National Payroll Institute
for assessment.
Part 7: Verifier’s Declaration – once the verifier has reviewed all screens comprising the
application, they will reach the Verifier’s Declaration page. The employer/manager/supervisor
will be asked the same questions that you were asked about your communication skills, in order
to inform both you and the National Payroll Institute whether resources should be provided to
enhance written or verbal communication skills.
Finally, the supervisor/verifier may add comments in the space provided, should they feel any part
of application requires revision. The Verifier must choose one of the two following options:
He/she agrees that all of the information provided in the application is accurate which will then
submit the application to the National Payroll Institute office for assessment;
OR
He/she can request that the application be revised by you. With this option, the application will
be returned to you and you will be required to make changes before resubmitting to the verifier.
Comments provided by the verifier(s) will provide guidance on the areas requiring revision and any
issues for consideration.

Note: The revised application(s) must be resubmitted to the verifier by the candidate until the
verifier declares the accuracy of the information and submits the application to the National Payroll
Institute for assessment.

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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance Practitioner Program’s Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (PCP — WERA)
 Step 3 – Completed by the National Payroll Institute

Assessment of the PCP- WERA

After receipt of the complete verified application and documentation from the verifier, the
National Payroll Institute will review and assess the application and documentation and will
determine if the experience meets the work experience requirement for PCP Certification.
The number of months are calculated based on the start and end date of the position as reported
on the application. If no end date is listed, the position is assumed to be ongoing and the
end date used will be the date of the application submission.
Your ten (10) year PCP Work Experience Eligibility Window is then calculated with the start date
being listed as five (5) years prior to your PCPWE Eligibility Date as provided by the National
Payroll Institute and the end date listed as five (5) years after your PCPWE Eligibility Date. The
number of months you were in the position that fall within the PCP Work Experience Eligibility
Window is then calculated. These months are then multiplied by the percentage of time that you
spent on payroll activities in your position to determine the number of months accepted toward
the PCP Work Experience Requirement for this position.
A notification e-mail will be sent to you from the National Payroll Institute with the final status of
your work experience application within twenty (20) business days of the receipt of the completed
and verified online application.

Important: Please review this guide carefully before submitting your application and supporting
documentation to ensure everything is complete. Once your application has been submitted, you can
check the application’s status online on the electronic application site at any time.

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Guide to Completing the Payroll Compliance Practitioner Program’s Work
Experience Requirement Electronic Application (PCP — WERA)