News in Brief

CPA to celebrate National Payroll Week

› TORONTO — The Canadian Payroll Association (CPA) is planning to host 24 breakfasts and luncheons across Canada from Sept. 10 to 14 to celebrate National Payroll Week (NPW). 

The association runs the event every year to celebrate payroll professionals for paying Canadian workers accurately and on time and to raise awareness of the profession outside of the payroll community.   

The events include guest speakers and the results of the CPA’s 2018 NPW research surveys, which highlight Canadians’ spending, saving, and debt levels.

For information on attending, refer to the CPA’s NPW website at www.npw-snp.ca.

WorkSafeBC unveils preliminary premium rates

› RICHMOND, B.C. — The workers’ compensation preliminary average base premium rate for 2019 will remain at 1.55 per cent of employers’ assessable payroll, WorkSafeBC announced.

The workers’ compensation body said the preliminary average base rate is less than the expected cost rate of 1.68 per cent.

It attributed this to its strong financial position in recent years, which allowed it to discount the average base premium rate below the average cost of claims, with the difference funded from higher-than-required investment returns.

While the base rate is projected to remain the same as this year, WorkSafeBC said some employers would see their assessment rate change. For 2019, it projected that 51 per cent of employers would see their industry base rate go down, while 47 per cent would see it increase, and two per cent would see no change. Individual employer rates are affected by their workplace accident record.

Factors that influence base premium rates include injury rates, return-to-work performance and the resulting cost of claims, as well as investment performance relative to required rates of return.

WorkSafeNB report recommends ending three-day wait for benefits

› FREDERICTON — The New Brunswick government should eliminate a three-day unpaid waiting period that injured workers must serve before they receive workers’ compensation benefits.

That task force recommendation was one of 28 included in its final report. The government set up the task force in May 2017 to identify short-term solutions and establish a long-term plan to ensure the system is transparent, accountable, predictable and sustainable. It included representatives for employers, workers, and the WorkSafeNB board of directors.

Under the three-day waiting period rule, employees (with some exceptions) must not receive any employment-related remuneration or workers’ compensation benefits for three working days before qualifying for WorkSafeNB benefits.

If employers pay any remuneration to injured workers in the first three days following a workplace accident, WorkSafeNB will delay compensation benefits for a further three days.

The task force said New Brunswick is one of the last provinces to impose a waiting period for workers’ compensation benefits. Prince Edward Island eliminated its waiting period in 2016. Nova Scotia is the only other jurisdiction with one.

The task force also examined the process that WorkSafeNB uses to set employer assessment rates.

However, it did not recommend any changes, stating that, based on a review of practices in place across Canada, “there were no better options than the current practice.”