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Home › Regulation and Policy › Legislation & regulation › New legislation › Bill 49 ›

Bill 49, Workers Compensation Amendment Act

Bill 49, Workers Compensation Act Amendment Act became effective June 30, 2002.

The legislation was introduced by the provincial government on May 13, 2002. It dealt primarily with some benefit amounts for injured workers and establishes a new model for governance of the Workers' Compensation Board. The Guide to the amended Workers Compensation Act, 2002 (PDF 160kb) summarizes the changes.

Highlights of the changes are as follows:

Summary of WorkSafeBC benefit changes	Former system	Current system
Benefit level	• 75% of gross average earnings	• 90% of average net earnings
Average earnings	• Highly discretionary • 8 week rate review by policy	• Spelled out in legislation • 10 week review with emphasis on prior 12 months' earnings for most cases
Basis for determining non-total disability pension level	• Higher of loss-of-function or loss-of-earnings	• Loss-of-function, except in exceptional cases where it is not appropriate. Those cases will use loss-of-earnings.
Change at age 65	• Pension continues for life	• Recipient receives lump sum retirement benefit. • Those who are 100% functionally disabled will have their cases reviewed at age 65 to provide necessary support services for life.
Inflation adjustment	• Twice-yearly at full rate of inflation	• Once yearly, at 1% less than inflation, up to a maximum of 4% in a year, for all workers. • Survivors' indexing is unchanged.
Status of mental stress claims	• Present legislation is silent. WorkSafeBC policy is to not allow claims, but some have succeeded on appeal. • Post-traumatic stress is adjudicated on the merits of each case and some are allowed.	• Legislation clearly excludes coverage for mental stress, unless there is an acute unexpected reaction to trauma or it is associated with the compensable injury. • Post-traumatic stress continues to be adjudicated on the merits of each case.
Receipt of CPP disability benefits	• Recipients can receive both WorkSafeBC and CPP benefits	• WorkSafeBC benefits are reduced by half the value of a CPP disability pension that is being received for the same injury.

To whom do the changes apply?

• Most changes apply only to those workers who are injured after June 30th, 2002.

Governance:

• The legislation also establishes a new Board of Directors composed of seven people, which are chosen by the Lieutenant Governor in Council including:
  • A chair who is representative of the public interest, one worker representative, one employer representative, one director who is a professional providing health care or rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities, one director who is an actuary and two representatives appointed to represent the public interest. The new Board of Directors is anticipated to be named later in the year.

Other issues:

• The government announced further legislation dealing with the appeals process. Bill 63 came into effect on March 3, 2003.
• Other legislation is expected following additional work by the government and consultation with stakeholder groups on matters of survivor benefits, occupational disease compensation, compensation for chronic pain and regulation of occupational safety and health. Legislation covering these topics is anticipated in fall 2002 or spring 2003.

Further information can be obtained from answers to frequently asked questions and a copy of the proposed legislation and other information.

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