Working Without a Safety Net
Aug 09, 2010
According to the Alberta Federation of Labour, Alberta’s Workers Compensation Board is the only board in Canada to pay bonuses to staff, as an incentive to cut their caseloads and payouts.
The justification for such bonuses would indicate that the board simply doesn’t have the money to support and rehabilitate all injured workers in that province. That’s not surprising, considering the Alberta WCB collects the lowest premiums in Canada from employers in dangerous industries.
In fact, according to the AFL, employers in Alberta’s oil and natural gas sector pay only 55 cents per $100 payroll in WCB premiums. Companies in the rest of the country pay four times as much – around $2 per $100 payroll.
So, after years of putting a priority on premium reduction, the Alberta WCB simply doesn’t have the funds to fulfill its mandate of supporting and rehabilitating injured workers. But instead of increasing premiums, they find new ways to deny claims and otherwise reduce pay-outs.
This is not to say that the state of affairs at WCBs across the country is in fine shape.
Until the Manitoba government expanded coverage for 30,000 additional workers in January 2009, Manitoba held the dubious distinction of offering the lowest level of covered workforces in the country.
While Manitoba’s recent changes to expand coverage and encourage voluntary coverage for non-compulsory industries are encouraging, the number of workers (particularly casual workers) not covered by WCB benefits is disturbing in a well established nation such as Canada. The trend to slowly erode benefits in parts of the country, like Alberta, should serve as a wakeup call to all Canadians that the safety net put in place decades ago by responsible governments is being left tattered and torn by governments and big business’s quest for wealth. Sadly, I feel many Canadians in need won’t know they’re benefits have vanished until they find out first-hand.
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Things could definitely be a lot better in Alberta. But as you point out, every province in Canada could do better, including Manitoba. We need to remain vigilant in working towards better compensation for workers.
Jim - 2010-08-11 21:09