Tick Tock – Time’s Running Out!
Starting to feel a little stressed? The deadline is looming! Every year, across Canada, employers are required to report their payroll earnings to their respective provincial or territorial workers’ compensation board (WCB). The WCB then uses the reported amounts to establish the premium assessment for each employer. Workers’ compensation boards are funded by employer contributions, or premiums, that are based on the level of risk associated with their particular industry. Typically, premiums are reflected as a specified dollar amount per $100 of payroll and are calculated based on maximum assessable earnings or the maximum annual earnings on which workers’ compensation premiums can be based. Sounds complicated? You bet! Establishing premiums is a complex, multifactorial process and assessable earnings are only one of many variables that are used in the calculations. Determining what part of payroll earnings are assessable and exactly what needs to be reported can be equally complicated, especially […]
Mental Health in the Workplace – Tips and facts for a healthy workforce
Canada will be activating a three-digit number for suicide prevention on November 30, 2023. If you’d like to know more about this, please visit the Government of Canada website. If you are in Canada and you, or someone you know, need help now, please continue to call 1.833.456.4566 any time, or text 45645 between 4 p.m. and midnight ET. Blue Monday, possibly the saddest day of the year, was January 16th and Bell Let’s Talk Day is January 25th. We are heading into the depths of winter and into the fourth year of dealing with the physical, financial and emotional impact of the COVID pandemic. It’s no wonder everyone is talking about mental health. The recent focus on the awareness and acceptance of mental illness and the effects that stress has on our overall well being only highlights the connection between workplace safety and a psychologically healthy work environment. ‘Blue […]
So Long 2022! What’s in Store for 2023?
For many it’s good-bye and good riddance with the promise of a better year to come. For others, especially employers, this will continue to be unprecedented times as the world, and the economy, finds its new equilibrium. Rising inflation, interest rates and production costs combined with managing a workforce, whether it is new hires, returning workers, remote working, hybrid work setups or health and safety modifications, the challenges facing employers are significant. So as we head into 2023, here are three major things to consider: WCB Premiums. Workers compensation boards across the county have recently issued their premium rate statements. The impact that the pandemic has had on operations over the past couple of years could affect how a business should be classified. A careful review of your premium calculations could uncover hidden savings Not sure what to look for, here are 10 things to check on your premium rate […]
How We Can Use What COVID Has Taught Us to Combat the Flu Season this Year
There is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our world permanently and in ways we could not have even imagined. It has changed the way we interact, the way we work, the way we play, the way we live. It has forced us to think outside the box and to be creative in our approach to many things we once considered routine. As we move from the pandemic to endemic stage and life begins to normalize to a world where we learn to live with COVID, we shouldn’t lose sight of the positives that have evolved during this period – and yes there are positives; every dark cloud has a silver lining. So how can we take what we have learned from COVID and use it to our advantage? In an attempt to remain solvent following the March 2020 lockdown, many organizations scrambled to figure how their employees […]
Is a WCB Claim Ever Officially Closed?
Your employee has been injured at work, they’ve received treatment, they’ve recovered, they’ve successfully returned to work and the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) has inactivated their claim but is that claim really closed? Once a worker has recovered from an injury and has returned to their full duties or has reached a medical plateau and is working at their maximum potential, the WCB Alberta sends a letter to the injured worker and their employer outlining what injuries were accepted, the treatment or services provided and the return to work details. The letter also advises that the claim will now be considered inactive. But what happens if a worker develops problems related to their work-related injury after their claim has been inactivated? Unlike private insurance claims, where there are defined time limits in which you can claim benefits, the WCB will always review any new information that is submitted. It does […]