IAS 19 — Employee Benefits (2011)

Effective date:

Effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, except for subsequent amendments. Earlier application is permitted.

Published by the IASB:

June 2011

Included in Part I of CPA Canada Handbook:

November 2011

Reach out to our IAS 19 Specialist

Diana De Acetis

Overview

IAS 19 Employee Benefits (amended 2011) outlines the accounting requirements for employee benefits, including short-term benefits (e.g. wages and salaries, annual leave), post-employment benefits such as retirement benefits, other long-term benefits (e.g. long service leave) and termination benefits. The standard establishes the principle that the cost of providing employee benefits should be recognized in the period in which the benefit is earned by the employee, rather than when it is paid or payable, and outlines how each category of employee benefits are measured, providing detailed guidance in particular about post-employment benefits.

History of IAS 19

The following table shows the history of this standard subsequent to the adoption of IFRS in Canada.

Date1

Development

Comments

Included in Part I of the CPA Canada Handbook2

June 16, 2011

IAS 19 Employee Benefits (amended 2011) issued

This standard was amended by the IASB in June 2011 to:

  • eliminate the option to defer the recognition of gains and losses arising in defined benefit plans (the "corridor approach");
  • require gains and losses relating to those plans to be presented in other comprehensive income; and
  • improve the disclosure requirements concerning the characteristics of defined benefit plans and the risks arising from those plans.

The amended standard also incorporates changes to the accounting for termination benefits.

IAS 19 is effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013. Earlier application is permitted.

November 2011

November 21, 2013

Defined Benefit Plans: Employee Contributions (Amendments to IAS 19) issued

The amendments simplify the accounting for contributions from employees or third parties to defined benefit plans that are independent of the number of years of service.

The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning on or after July 1, 2014. Earlier application is permitted.

February 2014

September 25, 2014

Amended by Improvements to IFRSs 2014 (discount rate: regional market issue)

 

The amendments clarify the application of the discount rate requirements for currencies for which there is no deep market in high quality corporate bonds.

The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2016. Earlier application is permitted.

February 2015

February  7, 2018

 Plan Amendment, Curtailment or Settlement (Amendments to IAS 19

If a plan amendment, curtailment or settlement occurs, it is now mandatory that the current service cost and the net interest for the period after the remeasurement are determined using the assumptions used for the remeasurement. In addition, amendments have been included to clarify the effect of a plan amendment, curtailment or settlement on the requirements regarding the asset ceiling.

An entity applies the amendments to plan amendments, curtailments or settlements occurring on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period that begins on or after January 1, 2019. Early application is permitted but must be disclosed.

April 2018

Notes

  1. For further details of relevant developments prior to this, please refer to our Deloitte Global section.
  2. Newly issued, amended or revised IFRSs are part of Canadian GAAP only after they are approved by the Accounting Standards Board in accordance with its due process.

The above summary does not include details of consequential amendments made as the result of other projects.

Related Interpretations

Related IFRIC Agenda Rejection Notices

Readers are cautioned that the items noted below may refer to either IAS 19 (2011) or IAS 19 (1998), or both of these versions of IAS 19. For the rejection notices which precede the issuance of  IAS 19(2011), paragraph references mentioned in the items below may refer to IAS 19 (1998) rather than IAS 19 (2011). In this case the 'Table of concordance' which accompanies IAS 19 (2011) may be useful in determining whether such references remain relevant.

The rejection notices are available in our Deloitte Global section.

  • IAS 19 — Actuarial assumptions: discount rate (November 2013)
  • IAS 19 — Accounting for contribution-based promises: impact of the 2011 amendments to IAS 19 (September 2012)
  • IAS 19 — Classification of payments to encourage early retirement (January 2012)
  • IAS 19 — Defined contribution plans with vesting conditions (July 2011)
  • IAS 19 — Accounting for a statutory employee profit sharing arrangement (November 2010)
  • IAS 19 — Settlements (May 2008)
  • IAS 19 — Definition of plan assets (January 2008)
  • IAS 19 — Pension promises based on performance hurdles (January 2008)
  • IAS 19 — Death in service benefits (January 2008)
  • IAS 19 — Changes to a plan caused by government (November 2007)
  • IAS 19 — Treatment of employee contributions (November 2007)
  • IAS 19 — Benefit allocation for defined benefit plans (September 2007)
  • IAS 19 — Curtailments and negative past service costs (May 2007)
  • IAS 19 — Special wage tax (March 2007)
  • IAS 19 — Employee long service leave (November 2005)
  • IAS 19 — Determining the appropriate rate to discount postemployment benefit obligations (June 2005)
  • IAS 19 — Accounting for the transfer to the Japanese government of the substitutional portion of employee pension fund liabilities (April 2003)
  • IAS 19 — Classification of an insured plan (July 2002)
  • IAS 19 — Undiscounted vested employee benefits (March 2002)
  • IAS 19 — Calculation of discount rates (February 2002)

AcSB’s IFRS Discussion Group meetings

  • May 31, 2016 - IAS 19: Inflation Rate
  • December 3, 2015 - IAS 19: Change in Discount Rate Approach
  • September 10, 2015 - IAS 19: Annuity Buy-ins
  • May 14, 2015 - IAS 19: Discount Rates
  • December 9, 2014 - IAS 19: Longevity Swaps, Annuity Buy-in and Buy-out and Discount Rate
  • September 11, 2014 - IAS 19 and IAS 21: Foreign Exchange Gains and Losses on Defined Benefit Pension Plan Obligations and IAS 19: Refundable Tax Accounts in Retirement Compensation Arrangements
  • June 12, 2014 - IAS 19: Shared-Risk Pension Plans

Amendments under consideration

Related Interpretations

Correction list for hyphenation

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