The WCB in Saskatchewan recently proposed a 4.4 percent drop to its 2014 average premium rate, from $1.58 to $1.51 per hundred dollars of payroll.
According to officials, the rate reduction marks the seventh straight decline to the average premium rate and the lowest rate proposal since 1987. The rate has dropped 26.3 percent since a high of $2.05 in 2004. The 2014 rate proposal means that Saskatchewan could have the fourth lowest average premium rate in Canada next year.
WCB Chairperson Gordon Dobrowolsky noted that the proposed reduction is driven by growth in payroll and a reduction in injuries.
“In a very real sense, Saskatchewan employers and workers earned the 2014 rate reduction by preventing injuries and through return to work programs that can shorten the duration of an injury,” Dobrowolsky commented.
With the 2014 Rate Proposal:
• Premiums for 33,583 employers in 40 rate codes will drop. This represents 82 percent of employers registered with the WCB. The decreases range from 0.9 to 12.0 percent. The average decrease is 5.2 percent.
• Premiums for 5,635 employers in 8 rate codes will increase next year. This represents 14 percent of registered employers. All increases are under 10.5 percent. The average increase is 3.4 percent.
• Premiums for employers in two rate codes remain the same.
• For the second consecutive year, and only the second time in nearly 20 years, no industry rate code has increases over 10.5 percent.
2013 Time Loss Injury Rate Forecast at 2.50 Percent
The 2014 rate proposal was to be presented recently to business leaders at 17 meetings scheduled in Regina and Saskatoon. The WCB is forecasting a 2013 Time Loss injury rate of 2.50 percent. It represents a 49.5 percent decrease since reaching an all-time high of 4.95 percent in 2002.
“We’ve made great strides in the past decade,” WCB CEO Peter Federko added. “But Mission: Zero has to remain top of mind. Whether you are an employer or a worker, going home safe and whole at the end of the workday should be your goal.”
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. She is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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