CPR_JUNE_2013v7.qxp:Canadian Employer.qxd 13-05-27 11:50 AM Page 3
CANADIAN PAYROLL REPORTER
Payroll's role with worker's compensation
Payroll administers payments long before an accident occurs
| BY ZACHARY PEDERSEN |
WORKPLACE SAFETY IS considered a
priority throughout most organizations. While employers need to be
concerned with worker health and
well-being, the payroll department is
actually responsible for a lot more.
"There are a lot of different tasks
that a payroll professional needs to
do when dealing with workers' compensation legislation," says MariePier Coulombe, a consultant with
Carswell's payroll consulting group
in Toronto. "The first one is to understand which employees are covered
by workers' compensation."
Most employees in Canada need
to be covered by the worker's compensation board (WCB) in their
respective province. This includes
students, part-time, full-time, casual,
and temporary employees. An
example of an employee who is not
automatically
covered
under
workers' compensation, but may
apply for optional coverage which
will entitle them to WCB benefits if
they suffer a compensable injury, is a
"sole proprietor," she says.
Registering employees with the
workers' compensation board isn't
necessarily the payroll department's
responsibility, but it's important for
payroll professionals to understand
how it works, Coulombe says.
"You need to be aware if your
industry is covered under workers'
compensation and this varies right
across Canada," she says. "The
exemptions for workers' compensation are also different by each
province."
If an employee works in multiple
jurisdictions outside of their home
province, she may also be subject to
WCB premiums in the other jurisdictions .
"For example, if you have an
employee working in Ontario and in
Quebec, you should contact the
workers' compensation body in
Quebec to find out if registration there
is required and to find out whether the
worker's out-of-province earnings
should be reported," she says.
Employers must also confirm
employees have coverage for outside
continued on page 9
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Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2013
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