Employers in Newfoundland and Labrador are having their worker’s compensation rates reduced
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Employers in Newfoundland and Labrador will pay less for workers’ compensation coverage next year after WorkplaceNL decreased average assessment rates by 7.8% -- a decision which has outraged the labour federation in the area.
On January 1, the new rate will be $1.90 per $100 of payroll, down from the present $2.06 per $100 of payroll, reported The Western Star.
The rates are premiums paid by companies to cover expected costs of workplace injuries, return-to-work and prevention programs, and administering the system.
WorkplaceNL CEO Dennis Hogan said the rates have been lowered because the injury fund now sits comfortably at 126.1%.
The lost-time injury rate is also at an all-time low of 1.5 per 100 workers.
“Fewer claims from injured workers typically means lower costs for employers and more people going home safety at the end of their work day,” Hogan stated.
“We continue to work closely with employers, workers, labour groups and safety associations to evolve our province’s safety culture while maintain a financially sustainable workers’ compensation system.”
While the average rates in all 18 sectors will fall, the largest decreases will be in agriculture, manufacturing and transportation and storage at 11%, 10% and 10%, respectively.
But the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour said injured workers were being victimized by the system.
“For five straight years now we have seen employers’ fees reduced substantially, meanwhile injured workers continue to suffer with reduced benefits despite the fact that they have been shouldering a greater portion of that deficit since then,” NLFL president Mary Shortall said.
Shortall said that despite a healthy injury fund, compensation rates remain the lowest in Canada. They are calling on the government to increase the percentage of earnings benefits for injured workers to 85 per cent.
There are six Canadian jurisdictions that provide 90 per cent of net earnings to workers’ compensation claimants, and two at 85. Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest income replacement rate at 80 per cent.
Shortall accuses WorkplaceNL of being more concerned with managing claims and lowering rates for employers than it is with workers’ well-being.
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