Eligible businesses also get $1,000 toward developing action plan in 2022
Small employers in Ontario with fewer than 99 employees are being offered an incentive to invest in health and safety.
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is giving out a pandemic bonus that will double the rebates eligible businesses can earn for each topic they complete in its Health and Safety Excellence program.
“Many smaller businesses are still recovering from the pandemic,” says Jeffery Lang, president and CEO of the WSIB. “We are stepping up with added incentives to help get more businesses investing in health and safety right now.”
The Ontario government is exploring the idea of boosting compensation for workers who become injured or ill on the job.
The Health and Safety Excellence program connects Ontario businesses with approved providers in their industry or community who help design a plan based on 36 available health and safety topics.
The bonus will:
- double the rebate for topics completed in 2022
- retroactively double the rebate for topics completed since March 2020 for eligible businesses who enroll in new topics this year
- pay an additional $1,000 toward the development of action plans in 2022
When the program launched in November 2019, there was a cap on rebates with small businesses able to earn up to 75 per cent of their premium back. Now that cap is also being removed.
“I think this added incentive will get more businesses like ours into the program which should ultimately mean fewer injuries. That’s the goal,” says Beverley Cunningham, VP of health and safety and communications at SG Cunningham.
Back in 2021, the WSIB introduced an online tool where people could check the COVID-related health and safety stats of Ontario employers.
