August 30, 2016
At their meeting on May 27, 2015, WorkSafeBCs governing body, the Board of Directors, approved the release of a discussion paper with options and draft policies to stakeholders for comment.
To determine a workers loss of earnings, WorkSafeBC compares earnings in the suitable occupation available after the injury as they stood at the date of injury, with the workers earnings at the time of injury. In situations where earnings information for the suitable occupation are not available for the time of injury, earnings from that occupation at a different date are used and then adjusted for inflation. Policy outlines a process to adjust earnings to account for inflation, since a direct comparison of the workers pre-injury earnings and post-injury earnings would otherwise be unfair.
In 2013, the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal raised concerns about the use of WorkSafeBCs cost-of-living adjustment factor to adjust for inflation. This policy review is to consider whether the current approach and factor used to account for inflation in determining a workers loss of earnings award should be revised.
The discussion paper, draft policies, and information on how to provide feedback can be accessed through the link below.
The consultation period for this item will end January 6, 2017. The Board of Directors will consider stakeholder feedback before making a decision on the proposed policy.
Please note that COCA will be submitting comments on behalf of members. If you are making a submission on behalf of your own organization or company or would like to provide input to COCA’s response, please email to dave@cocabc.ca.