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Wage rate information: Instructions for your payroll department
Recent legislative changes concerning benefit entitlement affect the manner in which WorkSafeBC calculates and pays compensation benefits to injured workers. As well, new appeal legislation now restricts the WorkSafeBC's ability to change decisions concerning wage rates and compensation benefits after 75 days. As a result, it is very important that the correct payroll information concerning your injured worker is provided to WorkSafeBC at the onset of a claim.
Therefore, when you supply earnings information to WorkSafeBC please include the items below in your worker's total earnings figures. Use boxes 21 and 22 in the Employer's Report of Injury and Occupational Disease, commonly referred to as the Form 7, when reporting the following:
- Regular earnings including any overtime earnings (WorkSafeBC will include overtime earnings when calculating compensation benefits where it is determined that the worker has a regular pattern of working overtime)
- Earnings during illness — include the earnings that you paid your worker while he or she was off work for short-term illness (e.g., sick bank)
- Vacation pay — include only if all of the following apply:
- If your worker loses entitlement to vacation pay while disabled
- Amounts paid out to your worker (as opposed to time off with pay)
- Payments representing vacation pay earned prior to the date of injury; these payments may be either outstanding and owed to your worker, or they may already have been paid out
Please do not include the following in your worker's earnings figure:
- Long-term disability (LTD) benefits that you or an LTD insurer paid directly to your worker
- WorkSafeBC benefits paid by WorkSafeBC directly to your worker
- Wages you paid your worker for which WorkSafeBC reimbursed you either partially or fully
- Special expenses paid to your worker due to the nature of the employment (e.g., car or tool allowances)
- Amounts that represent a reimbursement or per diem allowance for travel or meal expenses
- Employers' portion of Canada Pension Plan contributions, Employment Insurance premiums, tax deductions, and other payroll deductions
- Amounts that represent payment to your worker for rental of equipment
Following the above will help avoid unnecessary phone calls from WorkSafeBC to your payroll department. Including the right amounts will ensure that your injured worker's compensation benefits are correctly calculated in accordance with law and policy.
The instructions apply for both short- and long-term wage rate calculations.
If you are uncertain about any of the above descriptions or any other
questions you may have in this area, please contact the WorkSafeBC officer
responsible for the management of the claim.