WCB Alberta Employer Policy Review: Support Services
On October 1st, 2019, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta (WCB) announced that it was entering Phase 2 of a high-level review of Employer accounts and premium policies and was looking for feedback, ideas and suggestions until December 2, 2019. Of particular interest to some Alberta employers are changes to Policy 07-01, Part II, Application 1, regarding businesses providing support services to an industry and how that business is classified. The WCB is proposing the following addition to the current policy: How does WCB classify a business providing support services to an industry? Businesses providing coordination, marketing, management or administration of a specific service which generates revenue from another business, will be classified in the industry it supports. For example, a fast food franchisor that provides only administration services will be classified in the restaurant industry. While this may seem to make sense at first glance, the reality is that […]
Late Reporting: Employer Impact
In a perfect world, work-related accidents should never happen. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world and workers get injured on the job every day. How work-related injuries are handled can have a significant impact not only on the injured worker but on employers as well. It is widely accepted that the information obtained closest to any incident is likely the most accurate and work-related accidents are no exception. Prompt accident reporting by workers can result in better medical treatment, faster recovery times and lower claims costs. Delays can impede the claim’s process and are problematic for employers by limiting their ability to: validate the accident occurred detail the chain of events confirm there were no intervening factors or events between the date of accident (DOA) and the date of reporting (DOR) that contributed to the severity of the injury investigate the circumstances surrounding a work-related accident from a […]
When Should an Employer Report an Accident to the WCB?
As much as we try to avoid them, the reality is that accidents happen at work. Some are minor, some result in medical treatment, and unfortunately some result in serious injury or death. Most work-related accidents are obvious and reporting them to the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) makes sense. Yet some accidents or incidents seem so inconsequential that it does not make sense to spend the time, effort and expense to report them. So, in these situations, how does an employer decide whether or not to report an accident to the WCB? Essentially there are 3 criteria an employer needs to consider when determining if a minor work injury needs to be reported to the WCB: First Aid versus Medical Aid Job duty modification Damage to personal medical aids and appliances First Aid vs Medical Aid In Alberta, WCB Policy 01-05, Part 1, Reporting and Recording Accidents addresses this issue […]
Worried About WCB claims? Here’s What Every Employer Should Know
Alberta is facing hard times. The Alberta Government has just announced cuts to oil patch production starting in the New Year and there are talks of an economic and financial crisis facing the province as a whole. The fallout of this development will not only be realized potentially through layoffs and downsizing within the oil and gas sector, but the ripple effect may be felt throughout the rest of the economy as well. There has been a longstanding correlation between a downturn in the economy and the rise in Workers’ Compensation (WCB) claims. Now is the time for Alberta employers to take action and reduce their risk of fraudulent and opportunistic claims. Not only to prevent WCB claims but also to reduce the overall risks your workers might face. Here are 3 preventative measures employers can take to try to minimize claims: 1) Be hypervigilant about safety in the workplace, […]
Maximum Insurable Earnings, Cost Relief and the New WCB Alberta Legislation
Another change to the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Act involved maximum insurable earnings (MIE). Up until September 1, 2018, MIE was a figure, set by the Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) which served two purposes; 1) It was used to establish a weekly compensation rate maximum; based on a capped pre-accident gross insurable earnings sum. In turn, workers would only be compensated for earnings up to the capped pre-accident gross earnings amount, 2) It was also used as the reportable gross earnings per worker figure or the maximum assessable earnings (MAE) employers were required to report to the WCB for rate setting purposes. As of September 1, 2018, the MIE has been broken down into two distinct categories: Compensable Earnings and Assessable Earnings. Compensable earnings will be the amount used to calculate an injured workers wage loss benefits and will have no limit. As a result of the legislative changes, the cap […]