A number of employers in Alberta (Canada) will welcome this news as they turn to 2014.
In this province, employers and workers are responding to employee safety challenges by making their best effort to reduce workplace injuries, and to focus on recovery and return to work when injuries happen. In partnership with government, labor and safety associations, health care providers and WCB-Alberta, they are succeeding—the results are stable injury rates and lower overall premium rates.
“For many of us, work is what defines us,” stated Guy Kerr, WCB president and CEO, “and a workplace injury can shatter our confidence. When we unite our efforts toward the common purpose of helping workers rediscover that confidence, we see positive results in our performance and in workers’ lives.”
More Than 85 Percent of Employers to See Reduction
In 2014, 87 percent of employers will see a drop in their industry premium rate. Some will see their rate plummet by as much as 40 percent.
Their performance counts. Employers with good performance pay less, while employers with poor performance pay more. Every employer and every industry has the ability to lower their premiums by doing a better job of protecting workers from injury and accommodating injuries when they happen.
Even while the average rate is dropping, workers will see two benefit increases:
• Workers in receipt of long-term wage loss benefits will receive a 1.1 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) as of Jan. 1.
• Wage protection coverage (maximum insurable earnings) for new claims is increasing to a maximum of $92,300, which covers the full wages of 90 per cent of Alberta’s covered workforce.
With a continued commitment to workers, Alberta employers will see a robust return on their investment. And with WCB’s continued focus on the stability of the workers’ compensation system, all Albertans will have a system they can count on.
Key Trends Impacting 2014 Premium Rates
The number of covered workers and wages are growing while claim rates remain stable.
• Insurable earnings (the gross earnings of covered workers, up to the annual maximum per worker, which WCB insures through the assessment of employer premiums) are expected to increase by 5.6 percent compared to the 2013 forecast.
• Lost-time claim volume is expected to remain stable, as are injury rates.
• Claim duration, or the average time an injured worker is away from the job, is expected to decrease slightly to 33 days.
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%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
©2014 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.
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