At its meeting on October 11, 2012, the Board of Directors of WorkSafeBC (“BOD”) considered a referral from a Vice Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (“WCAT”) to the Chair of the WCAT under section 251(2) of the Workers Compensation Act (“Act”). The Vice Chair considered that Item AP1-37-3, Classification — Changes, of the Assessment Manual relating to the effective date of a classification change made under section 37(2)(f) of the Act was not supported by the Act.

The BOD approved amendments to the policy to make a classification change made under section 37(2)(f) of the Act effective on:

• the date the decision to change the firm’s classification occurs, if the change will lead to a decrease in the base rate, or
• January 1st of the year following the date the decision to change the firm’s classification occurs, if the change will lead to an increase in the base

These amendments were effective October 11, 2012, and apply to all decisions, including appellate decisions, made on or after October 11, 2012.