LATEST NEWS
O H & S
May 23, 2008
Letter to the Editor
WSIB policy penalizes employers who hire previously disabled
Re: WSIB experience-rating system
In Ontario, construction employers who employ a worker with a pre-existing disability who suffers a disablement while in the course of performing their regular duties, face a surcharge (penalty) levied by the WSIB. Here is the scenario:
Construction employer hires a pipefitter. After 1 month, the pipefitter, while performing regular duties, experiences discomfort due to the work.
Upon seeking medical treatment, the worker is diagnosed with HAVS, or some other repetitive strain disorder which is the result of working as a Pipefitter for 20 years. The worker’s condition is severe enough that they cannot work as a pipefitter any more. The claim is now for lost-time as loss of earnings benefits are paid.
A WSIB claim is established for this condition and the board acknowledges that the impairment is the result of working as a pipefitter for 20 years. The “accident employer” is the last employer of record. That is, the employer who employed the worker when the “disablement” occurred. The WSIB claim is registered to this employer, even though the worker only worked for them for one month. In some situations, the worker is retired and the diagnosis is made several years after they have worked. The WSIB grant the employer cost relief, recognizing that there was an underlying condition which resulted from working 20 years in the industry for multiple employers. As a result, the “accident” employer is relieved of 90% of the costs of this claim, due to the pre-existing condition (disability). While the employer is relieved of a majority of costs for this claim, the WSIB still records this claim as a lost-time injury if loss of earnings are paid. This LTI recorded against the accident employer causes the company to have a frequency count applied to their account and results in a surcharge being applied by the WSIB under the construction experience rating program (CAD-7). The surcharge (which can be upwards of $50,000) also results in a negative performance index being recorded against the employer.
This negative performance index also causes this employer to be removed from several clients bid lists because of a poor CAD-7 record. The Ministry of Labour also now labels this employer as “high risk.”
The worker had a significant underlying condition (disability) prior to being employed by the employer. The disablement occurred as a result of the worker performing their regular work duties.
As a result of hiring this worker the employer is penalized by the WSIB (experience rating). In other words, the WSIB levied a surcharge against an employer who hired a worker with a disability. Under the Human Rights code, the employer cannot discriminate by asking candidates for employment if they have a disability, so, the employer takes people “as they come.”
The Ontario Human Rights Code prevents discrimination against citizens with disabilities by employers, yet the WSIB penalizes employers who hire these citizens.
Gary Robertson,
CHRP
President,
Wellington At Work
| MOST POPULAR STORIES |
- New technology allows concrete to come clean
- Ontario architects, general contractor associations issue joint HST bulletin
- WSIB report a clear response to ideas we submitted, Ontario General Contractors Association chief says
- Ground broken on the Cathedral Centre in Toronto
- Highway construction crew uncovers ancient B.C. glacier
- 20 Most Popular Stories
| TODAY’S TOP CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS |
These projects have been selected from 342 projects with a total value of $2,911,425,288 that Reed Construction Data Building Reports reported on yesterday.
SUBWAY STATIONS, BUS TERMINALS, SUBWAY EXTENSION
$500,000,000 York Reg ON Prebid
$112,000,000 Ottawa ON Prebid
CONDOMINIUM, RETAIL & HOTEL DEVELOPMENT
$100,000,000 Burlington ON Prebid
| CURRENT STORIES |
- Fraud charges laid against former head of Quebec labour union
- Alberta team wins silver at U.S. bricklaying championship
- New technology allows concrete to come clean
- Ontario Masonry Contractors’ Association launches design awards
- Pursuit of LEED could result in professional negligence, insurance executive warns
- Ontario architects, general contractor associations issue joint HST bulletin
- WSIB report a clear response to ideas we submitted, Ontario General Contractors Association chief says
- McGuinty dismisses NDP land deal allegations
- Historic Kingston Dry Dock restored, enhanced
- Centre for Energy Innovation in Windsor, Ontario built using Termobuild HVAC system
- Canadian Standards Association parking garage standard gets tougher
- Accelerated schedules a challenge for vinyl flooring
- Good materials, shoddy workmanship produces poorly performing floor
- Scott Construction continues work on research centre at Vancouver General Hospital
- Independent contractors association criticizes Burnaby’s fair wage policy
- Eastern, central focus of federal budget a concern to industry
- Industry welcomes federal government’s commitment to labour-market tracking
- International Living Building Institute launches new challenge
- International snowplow championship packs ‘em in
- ‘Quality product cannot come from cutting corners on safety’
- Study supports domed stadium for Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina
- U.S. construction spending drops by $5.5 billion
- Canada BIM Council nears information exchange agreement with U.S. counterpart
- SNC Lavalin awarded Saskatchewan carbon capture project
- Dominion Construction gets two B.C. contracts
| ALEX’S ECONOMICS BLOG |

Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in the North American economic environment with emphasis on the construction industry.
- A dozen incredible measurement sets on Canada’s changing ethnic mix (March 9, 2010)
- How fragile is recovery around the world? (March 3, 2010)
- The world financial crisis goes into extra innings (February 25, 2010)
- More







