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Proposed Amendments Regarding Reconsideration of Classification Decisions
Effective March 3, 2003, the Workers Compensation Act (“ Act ”) was amended to provide that WorkSafeBC may not reconsider a decision or order if more than 75 days have elapsed since that decision or order was made or a review or appeal has been filed.
At issue are two policies in the Assessment Manual that provide that a decision to change a firm's classification does not constitute a reconsideration of a decision and therefore the 75-day time limit does not apply.
A recent referral from a Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal (“WCAT”) Vice Chair to the Chair of WCAT on this issue has triggered a review of the policies. Specifically, the Vice Chair determined that the 75-day time limit on reconsiderations should apply where WorkSafeBC identifies that a classification has been assigned to an employer in error and the employer's operations have not changed since the original decision.
On July 17, 2007, the Board of Directors approved the release of a discussion paper with options and draft policy amendments for stakeholder consultation. Proposed deletions of policy wording are identified with a strikethrough and additions are identified in bold.
Discussion paper (PDF 183kb)
There are a number of ways for stakeholders to provide feedback on the options and draft policy amendments:
(a) Comment link:
Through the Comment link below, you will be able to provide immediate feedback by completing an online submission form.
Please note: Once you click the “submit” button at the bottom of the form you cannot access it again to make additional comments. Therefore, if you wish to make detailed comments in the feedback section, you may want to draft your comments using a word processing format and then cut and paste them into the submission form.
Alternatively, submissions can be submitted as follows:
| (b) | E-mail: | policy@worksafebc.com |
| (c) | Mail: | Susan Hynes Director Policy and Research Division WorkSafeBC PO Box 5350 Station Terminal Vancouver, BC V6B 5L5 |
| (d) | Fax: | 604 279-7599; or toll-free in B.C. 1 877-279-7599 |
The consultation period will end on September 14, 2007. The Board of Directors will consider stakeholder feedback before making a decision on policy amendments.
Please note that all comments become part of the Policy and Research Division's database and may be published, including the identity of organizations and those participating on behalf of organizations. The identity of those who have participated on their own behalf will be kept confidential according to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.