The Board of Directors approved amendments to WorkSafeBC’s policy pertaining to retroactivity limits on effective dates of employer registrations, as provided in Item AP1-38-1 (Registration of Employers) of the Assessment Manual.

The effective date of an employer’s registration is the date from which the employer will be assessed by WorkSafeBC. This is generally the date the employer first employed workers. Under the former policy, if the firm was employing workers, so that the registration with WorkSafeBC would have been required in a previous year, the effective date could only be set as far back as January 1st of the preceding year. Under the new policy, the effective date of the employer’s registration could be set as far back as January 1st of three years prior to the current year.

However, the policy still provides that if there is evidence that the employer deliberately avoided registration by such means as misrepresentation, false statements or ignoring registration requests, a prior date may be used.

The amended policy came into effect on January 1, 2007 and applies to all decisions made on or after that date.

To ease the transition to the amended retroactivity limit, except where there is evidence that the employer deliberately avoided registration by such means as misrepresentation, false statements or ignoring registration requests, no registration will be backdated to a date earlier than January 1, 2005 under the amended policy.