B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 worker compensation system pulled itself out of an unfunded liability onto a solid financial footing after changes made in 2002, and now employers, injured workers and their families are waiting for the next overhaul.
WorkSafeBC is responsible for 45,000 sick or injured workers and more than 4,000 spouses and children who depend on pension payments, and administers an insurance system paid into by 238,000 . Workers give up their right to sue employers for negligence in exchange for no-fault compensation funded by employers and administered independently, an arrangement created in Ontario a century ago known as the 香蕉视频直播渉istoric compromise.香蕉视频直播�
Among the terms for B.C. Green Party support of the minority NDP government was 香蕉视频直播渋mproving fairness for workers and ensuring balance in workplaces,香蕉视频直播� and Labour Minister Harry Bains appointed retired labour lawyer Janet Patterson in April to conduct the review.
According to a consultant report prepared for the province in December, WorkSafeBC retains compensation rates 香蕉视频直播渁mong the highest levels among workers香蕉视频直播� compensation systems.香蕉视频直播�
Public hearings around the province on proposed changes have been completed, and final submissions from business and other groups are being submitted for a report to be released by the end of September.
In a joint submission by 46 employer groups, employers questioned terms of the review including a 香蕉视频直播済ender-based analysis香蕉视频直播� and moving to a 香蕉视频直播渨orker-centric service delivery model.香蕉视频直播� The review香蕉视频直播檚 terms of reference didn香蕉视频直播檛 give them enough information to make recommendations, the employers said in their submission.
The employers noted that Patterson advised them that her review was not directed to examine costs of changes.
香蕉视频直播淲e submit that the cost of funding the B.C. workers香蕉视频直播� compensation system is an intrinsic and integral aspect of the 香蕉视频直播榟istoric compromise香蕉视频直播� which is the genesis of that system, that a balance must be drawn between the level of benefit entitlement for disabled workers and the cost to employers to fund the system, and that this balancing of interests is predicated on disabled workers receiving fair (but not full) protection against economic loss,香蕉视频直播� the employers wrote.
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In his , consultant Terrance Bogyo warned that turning back the clock on worker compensation is not an option, after employer premiums were increased and benefits restricted in 2002. Among those reforms was one restricting inflation indexation of pensions and cash awards to workers and survivors, reducing payouts by $584 million between 2002 and 2017.
Bogyo proposed a series of options for WorkSafeBC changes, including:
香蕉视频直播� Increase maximum insurable earnings to $100,000 per year
香蕉视频直播� Increase the presumed age of retirement from 65 to 70
香蕉视频直播� Assuming maximum earnings in the event of a work-related death
香蕉视频直播� Alter the current inflation cap of Consumer Price Index minus one per cent
B.C. businesses have shouldered the province香蕉视频直播檚 new employer health tax this year, and many are still paying half of the Medical Services Plan premiums the new payroll tax is replacing as of 2020.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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