B.C.91裸聊视频檚 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 91裸聊视频渉istoric compromise.91裸聊视频�
Among the terms for B.C. Green Party support of the minority NDP government was 91裸聊视频渋mproving fairness for workers and ensuring balance in workplaces,91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频渁mong the highest levels among workers91裸聊视频� compensation systems.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频済ender-based analysis91裸聊视频� and moving to a 91裸聊视频渨orker-centric service delivery model.91裸聊视频� The review91裸聊视频檚 terms of reference didn91裸聊视频檛 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.
91裸聊视频淲e submit that the cost of funding the B.C. workers91裸聊视频� compensation system is an intrinsic and integral aspect of the 91裸聊视频榟istoric compromise91裸聊视频� 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,91裸聊视频� 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:
91裸聊视频� Increase maximum insurable earnings to $100,000 per year
91裸聊视频� Increase the presumed age of retirement from 65 to 70
91裸聊视频� Assuming maximum earnings in the event of a work-related death
91裸聊视频� Alter the current inflation cap of Consumer Price Index minus one per cent
B.C. businesses have shouldered the province91裸聊视频檚 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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