The Saskatchewan WCB recently announced its plan for a modest reduction in the average employer premium for 2012.
The 2012 average premium will be $1.60 per hundred dollars of payroll, down one cent from 2011. According to the Board, stable claim costs and injury frequencies contributed to the WCB’s decision. The proposed 2012 premium is the lowest average premium rate in a decade, and nearly 22 per cent lower than the 10-year high of $2.05 in 2004. (WCxKit)
Premiums for 28,071 employers stay the same or are lower. The average decrease is 5.3 per cent; the range is 1.0 to 21 percent. According to the WCB, 14,115 employers pay higher premium rates next year, as a result of their claims experience. The average increase is 5.1 percent; the range is 1.0 to 17.8 percent.
It is expected Saskatchewan will have the fourth lowest average employer premium in Canada for 2012.
Peter Federko, the WCB’s chief executive officer, said that recent investment market volatility did not impact the decision on rates. A new funding policy directs that only realized gains and losses – that is, gains and losses from the sale of investments – are used to determine the WCB’s funded position.
According to Federko, “As required, the WCB has adopted the new international financial reporting standards. The new policy recognizes this financial statement reporting requirement and brings more stability to our calculations, and that includes calculating our employer premium rates.”
The province has seen an almost 40 percent drop in the workplace injury rate since 2002. (WCxKit)
Officials credit business owners and Saskatchewan’s working men and women for the huge shift towards safer workplaces, adding that, “workplace safety is the surest way for an employer to bring down WCB costs. It’s a management practice with paybacks for everyone: employers, workers, families and neighborhoods all benefit when we go home safely from work.”
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: [email protected].
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