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Policy decisions finalized at the June, 2003 WCB Board of Directors meetings

The following resolutions were finalized by the WCB Board of Directors in June 2003. For information about the function and mandate of the Board of Directors, please see Governing Structure.

Retiring Workers' Compensation Reporter Decisions No. 1 - 423

The policies of the Board of Directors currently include Workers' Compensation Reporter Decisions No. 1 - 423. In order to reduce the number of sources of policy, a strategy has been approved for retiring these Decisions over time. In doing so, any appropriate statements will be incorporated into the various policy manuals.

An Index of retired Decisions, with an explanation of the concept of retirement, appears on this website. The Index will also appear as an Appendix to each policy manual.

At their June 17, 2003 meeting, the Board of Directors approved the retirement of a further 118 Decisions. Those Decisions are being added to the Index.

You may also examine the complete resolution. (PDF 87kb)

For further information on this issue, please contact Heather Greene at 604 276-5160.

Retirement of Prevention Policies in the Policy and Procedure Manual

The Board of Directors has approved the retirement of ten policies from the Prevention Division's Policy and Procedure Manual. The policies contain outdated information and/or have been superseded by policy, guidelines or subsequent statutory changes, and therefore, are unnecessary or inaccurate.

The retirement of these policies follows a direction of the former Panel of Administrators to consolidate and/or retire prevention policy into the Prevention Manual, in order to eliminate multiple sources of prevention policy and to decrease confusion and complexity in the system. To date, 222 policies from the Policy and Procedure Manual have been retired and/or consolidated (including the above-mentioned ten policies), and 51 remain to be considered.

You may also examine the complete resolution. (PDF 27kb)

For more information, contact Nick Attewell at 604-273-2266, local 2618, toll-free 1-888-621-7233, local 2618.

Miscellaneous Changes to the Prevention Manual

The Board of Directors has approved amendments to eight items in the Prevention Manual. The changes made include corrections to statutory citations and revisions to improve the user's understanding of the policy, resulting in an updated and improved Prevention Manual.

You may also examine the complete resolution.(PDF 147kb)

For more information, contact Nick Attewell at 604-273-2266, local 2618, toll-free 1-888-621-7233, local 2618.

Deposit Accounts

The Board of Directors has approved amendments to policy AP1-37-5, Deposit Accounts, of the Assessment Manual.
The amended policy provides direction on transfers from the deposit account system to the classification system. The policy sets out the following three types of transfers:

  • a deposit account employer requests transfer into the classification system;
  • a deposit account employer's operations are transferred to either a new employer or an existing employer in the classification system; or
  • the Board transfers a deposit account employer into the classification system where the employer is unable to maintain its credit worthiness.

Policy provides guidance on the effective date of these transfers. It also clarifies the process for the recovery of any deposit account unfinalled claims and other liabilities to ensure that these liabilities do not become the responsibility of the classification system.

The amendments are effective June 17, 2003 and apply to all decisions made on or after that date.

You may also examine the complete resolution. (PDF 28kb)

For further information on this issue, please contact Syrus Bacha at 604 244-6125 or toll free within B.C. at 1 888 922-2768, local 6125.

Revisions to Chapter 1 - Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual

Effective June 30, 2002, the Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2002 (Bill 49) significantly amended the Workers Compensation Act in relation to benefits for injured workers. To facilitate the implementation of the policies developed to implement Bill 49, the Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual was restructured into two volumes. Chapter 1 of each volume was amended to explain the distinction between Volume I and Volume II.

At their June 17, 2003 meeting, the Board of Directors approved revisions to Chapter 1 to expand and clarify this explanation. In particular, an Addendum has been created for Chapter 1 in Volume I that provides a mechanism for identifying the few changes made to Volume I since June 30, 2002.

The Board of Directors has also incorporated into Volume I the policy amendments made last year to the definition of "recurrence" in Volume II for purposes of the section 35.1 of the Act, which contains the transitional provisions for Bill 49.

You may also examine the complete resolution. (PDF 97kb)

For further information on this issue, please contact Joe Pinto at 604 276-3118, toll-free at 1 888 967-5377, local 3118.

Policy Clarification of Appeal Rights

Policy item #108.50 - Appeals Against Decisions on Applications for Reconsideration - was deleted from the Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual effective March 3, 2003 as part of the policy changes made to implement the Workers Compensation Amendment Act (No. 2), 2002 (Bill 63). Questions have arisen as to the applicability of this policy item to the WCB Review Division or the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal in considering pre-March 3, 2003 WCB decisions on reconsideration under the Bill 63 transitional provisions.

At their June 17, 2003 meeting, the Board of Directors issued a policy clarification stating that policy item #108.50 was not intended to, and does not, apply to the Review Division or WCAT.

You may also examine the complete resolution. (PDF 24kb)

For further information on this issue, please contact Heather Greene at 604 276-5160.

Permanent Disability Evaluation Schedule

The Board of Directors approved a number of changes to the Permanent Disability Evaluation Schedule ("PDES") and associated policies contained in Chapter 6, Permanent Disability Awards, of the Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual, Volume I and II.

The major changes to the PDES include the following:

  • changes to the percentages of disability for the partial amputation of the digits of the hand and the reduction in the number of hand charts from 12 to 5 charts;
  • changes to the spine to include thoracic spine rotation; and
  • changes to increase the percentage of disability for limited pronation movement (3% to 6% of total disability) and a decrease in the percentage for supination movement (5% to 4%).

The effective date of these changes is August 1, 2003. The changes apply to all section 23(1) assessments and reassessments undertaken with reference to the Permanent Disability Evaluation Schedule on or after August 1, 2003. The revisions to the Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual to reflect these changes will be distributed shortly.

You may also examine the complete resolution. (PDF 561kb)

For further information on this issue, please contact James Watson at 604 231-8650 or toll free at 1 888 967-5377, local 8650.

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