The Policy, Regulation and Research Division of WorkSafeBC (“PRRD”) would like to thank all participating stakeholders for their submissions on the PRRD’s discussion paper and draft amendments to policy, reflecting the legislative amendments to the Workers Compensation Act (Act) that came into effect on August 14, 2020 as a result of Government’s Bill 23 of 2020. Please click here for a summary of stakeholder comments.
On October 21, 2020, the Board of Directors approved changes to policies in each of the Prevention Manual, Assessment Manual, and Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual, Volume II (“RS&CM, Vol. II”) to reflect the Bill 23 of 2020 amendments that came into effect by Royal Assent.The effective date of the policy changes are divided into two categories.
The majority of the policy changes took effect on October 21, 2020. These include eighteen housekeeping amendments with no impact on the application of the policies, in each of the three policy manuals; as well as amendments to one policy in Item P2-17-1, Assignment of Board Authority, in the Prevention Manual, and fifteen policies in the RS&CM, Vol. II, as follows:
- Item C3-22.00, Compensable Consequences,
- Item C4-26.00, “Date of Injury” For Occupational Disease;
- Item C4-31.00, Hearing Loss,
- Policy item #34.51, Termination at a Future Date;
- Policy item #69.00, Maximum Amount of Average Earnings;
- Item C10-72.00, Introduction,
- Item C10-75.00, Health Care Accounts – General,
- Item C10-76.00, Physicians and Qualified Practitioners,
- Item C11-88.40, Training-on-the-Job,
- Policy item #93.20, Application for Compensation,
- Policy item #93.21, Time Allowed for Submission of Application,
- Policy item #94.10, Report to the Board,
- Policy item #95.30, Failure to Pay,
- Item C14-102.01, Reopenings,
- Policy item #113.00, Introduction.
The policy changes related to reconsideration of compensation provision decisions took effect and are applicable to decisions as of October 29, 2020. These are three amendments to policy in the Assessment Manual and eight amendments to policy in the RS&CM, Vol. II, as follows:
- Item AP3-123-1, Reconsiderations, Reviews and Appeals − Reconsiderations of Decisions,
- Item AP5-261-1, Penalties,
- Item AP5-263-1, Charging Claim Costs To Employers,
- Policy item #34.53, Termination at a Future Date,
- Policy item #65.04, Provisional Rate,
- Policy item #71.40, Adjustments,
- Policy item #94.14, Adjudication and Payment without Employer’s Report,
- Policy item #94.15, Penalties for Failure to Report,
- Policy item #96.21, Preliminary Determinations,
- Policy item #99.20, Notification of Decisions,
- Item C14-103.01, Changing Previous Decisions – Reconsiderations,
You can also examine the complete resolution here:Resolution No. 2020/10/21-02 Policy, Regulation and Research Division
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