October 31, 2008

REGULATIONS IN PLACE TO ADD INDUSTRIES UNDER WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD


Regulations are now in place to include more workers under the Workers Compensation Board (WCB), adding over 30 industries, Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan, minister responsible for the board, announced today.

“Covering additional industries provides wage replacement and health-care treatment for workers. Employers will also receive protection against lawsuits for workplace injuries and illness,” said Allan. “Once the new workers and industries are added by the WCB, an outreach effort will be launched to encourage voluntary coverage for industries not covered by the WCB.”

The province had announced earlier this summer that additional industries would be brought under the Workers Compensation Board. Today, regulations to this effect were put in place.

The additional industries join those already covered by the WCB, effective Jan. 1, 2009. An extensive review and public consultations resulted in the additional industries being covered by regulation. The consultations included a mail out of 43,000 consultation packages by the WCB.

Up to 30,000 more workers and 7,500 potential employers will now be covered by WCB. In January 2007, the Manitoba government extended compulsory WCB coverage to about 6,400 workers.

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba had the second-lowest average assessment rate in Canada in 2006 and 2007 and the third-lowest in 2008. The time-loss injury rate has also decreased by 25 per cent since 2000.

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