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As an employer, the BC Public Service is committed to providing a safe and
healthy workplace for employees. However, despite the best efforts of employees and the
employer, work-related injuries do sometimes occur. The Workers Compensation Act (WCA), a
provincial statute, sets out the legislative framework for providing compensation to workers
who suffer a work-related injury.
Following is some basic information about the WCB compensation system, the
public service as an employer, reporting an injury and making a WCB claim.
Fact Sheet
The Work-Related Illnesses or Injuries fact offers you some basic information
about the WCB compensation system, the public service as an employer, reporting an injury and
making a WCB claim.
Role of the WCB
The Workers’ Compensation Act is administered by the Workers Compensation
Board (WCB) of British Columbia. The WCB has a mandated responsibility to:
- adjudicate claims from workers to determine if they are acceptable under law and
policy;
- provide workers with wage loss compensation in the event their injury results in a loss
of wages;
- pay for health care costs associated with an accepted claim;
- provide return to work planning, vocational retraining, and rehabilitation allowances;
and
- provide a pension to a worker who suffers a permanent disability as a result of a
work-related accident.
For more information, visit the WCB website at www.worksafebc.com
The Workers Compensation Act covers "workers", as defined in the
Act. To be acceptable, an injury must also have arisen "out of and in the course of
employment", as determined by the WCB. In most cases, this means that the injury occurred
at work and was caused by the work.
All employees of the BC Public Service are covered for WCB purposes, whether
they work full-time, part-time, or have regular or auxiliary status. Some non-employees who
contract with Public Service ministries may also be considered by the WCB to be workers of the
Public Service. This depends on the terms of the contract, the contractor’s other business
activities, and whether or not they have registered with the WCB as an independent contractor.
The WCB is funded 100% by BC employers. Funding covers all aspects of WCB operations,
including claims costs. Most employers pay for WCB coverage for their employees through premiums
that are based on total payroll. The BC Public Service as an employer is different, in that it
pays the WCB the actual costs of a claim plus an additional fee to cover its share of WCB
operational costs.
 Relationship to the Employer’s Disability Benefit
Plans
The Public Service has its own benefit plans employees who are ill or injured.
These plans may contain special provisions for employees who are absent on a WCB claim. For
example, employees with an accepted WCB claim who are eligible for the Short Term Illness and Injury Plan (STIIP), remain on pay
during the STIIP period and receive their WCB wage loss benefits through the employer’s payroll
system. This allows employees to maintain other benefit coverage paid by the employer, (e.g.,
extended health and dental, group life insurance) while they are absent on a WCB claim. Employer
disability plans may also contain provisions that ensure that an employee will not suffer a loss
of take home pay while off on a WCB claim.
The employer’s short and long term disability (STIIP and LTD) benefits are
integrated with WCB benefits. This means that STIIP or LTD wage loss compensation the employee
may be entitled to from the employer is reduced by the compensation paid by the WCB. In most
cases, WCB compensation is greater than STIIP or LTD compensation, so employees receive only
the WCB amount. Employees should consult their human resource advisor, union representative,
or applicable collective agreement for further information.
If a work-related injury does occur, there are several things that an
employee needs to do. Following is some basic information about the WCB claim process. Employees
should contact the WCB website (www.worksafebc.com) or local office for further information.
- seek immediate medical treatment from the local workplace Occupational First Aid Attendant,
if required; and
- obtain additional medical treatment as directed by your medical practitioner and the WCB.
- report the injury to the employer (supervisor) immediately; this is required by law;
- if the employer asks you to, you are required by law to complete a "Worker’s Report
of Injury or Occupational Disease to Employer" (Form 6a), as soon as you are able to.
- report the injury to the WCB; you can do this by telephone to a WCB office;
- if you are unsure whether or not the injury is work-related, you can obtain further
information from the WCB;
- fill in a WCB "Application for Compensation and Report of Injury or Occupational
Disease" (Form 6) and send it to the WCB; this form can be obtained from the local WCB
office or from the WCB’s website (www.worksafebc.com);
- the WCB may send you a Form 6 if they receive the employer’s report of injury or a
doctor’s report of injury before you report the injury to the WCB;
- it is up to a WCB officer to determine whether or not your claim is an acceptable one
based on a review of all of the facts related to the injury; the WCB will send you a letter
as soon as a decision has been made;
- if your claim has been denied, the WCB officer who made the decision will send you a
letter providing you with reasons why the claim was denied and informing you of your right
to appeal;
- if you are not satisfied with the reasons provided, you can appeal that decision;
- if your claim is accepted and the employer believes it should not have been accepted,
the employer can appeal
- free assistance with an appeal can be obtained from the Workers’ Advisers office
of the Ministry of Labour; you can also contact your union for assistance (see "Appeal
System" for more information about appeals).
- when you are on a WCB claim, you are expected to work with the WCB and the employer to
return to work as soon as you are medically and safely able to do so; this may be a return
to your pre-injury job, to "light duties", or to a modified or alternate job on a
temporary or permanent basis;
- contact the local WCB office or website for more information about your obligations when
you are on a WCB claim.
- during an absence from work due to illness or injury, there are certain obligations the
employee has with respect to reporting that absence to the employer, qualifying for the
employer’s benefit programs during the leave period, and participating in return to
work processes (e.g., completing the required leave forms, obtaining doctors’ notes or
certificates, returning to alternate work consistent with medical limitations);
- these obligations continue even when you are on a WCB claim;
- consult your human resource consultant, union representative, or collective agreement for
further information.
If the WCB has a legislated responsibility to provide compensation and return to work
planning, what is the role of the employer with respect to an injured employee? The employer
has several important roles:
- providing immediate first aid to the injured employee at the worksite by means of the
designated Occupational First Aid Attendant, as required;
- providing paid transportation for the injured employee to the nearest hospital, if
required;
- reporting information about the accident and the injury or occupational disease to the
WCB on the "Employer’s Report of Injury or Occupational Disease" (WCB Form
7), according to WCB requirements;
- if the employer has grounds for believing that the claim is not a valid one under WCB
law and policy, the employer can protest the acceptance of the claim on the Form 7.
- investigating the circumstances of the accident and reporting the results of that
information to the WCB, the workplace, and in some cases, the worker’s union (as
required by the applicable collective agreement);
- taking action, based on the accident investigation, to prevent or reduce the chances
of a similar accident in future;
- the employer manages a WCB claim similar to a disability claim for any other ill or
injured employee;
- the employer also works with the WCB to help the injured employee return to work in
a safe and timely manner;
- the Public Service strongly supports options such as modified duties and alternate
placements for those workers who cannot return to their own jobs in the short or long
term. One of the ways this is accomplished is through the activities of the joint
employer/union Rehabilitation Committee.
- the employer continues to have an obligation to pay for and to manage a WCB claim for
a person who was an employee when they were injured but who is no longer an employee.
Workers and employers have the right to appeal decisions WCB officers
make on a claim; this includes on-going decisions as well as the initial acceptance or
denial of the claim. On-going decisions can involve a variety of issues, such as how long
the worker is disabled from working, whether or not vocational retraining is provided, and
what the value of a pension should be if the worker is left with a permanent disability.
There are two levels of formal appeal: the WCB Review Division and the
Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal. There are time limits within which an appeal to each
of these bodies must be started. If a worker or employer does not appeal a WCB decision
within the specified time period, they may lose their right to appeal (except under special
circumstances).
If a worker makes an appeal, the employer has the right to participate
in that appeal and to make submissions to the appeal body about the merits of the
worker’s appeal. If an employer makes an appeal related to a worker’s claim,
the worker has similar rights. A worker is entitled to view the contents of his or her WCB
claim file, upon request. The claim file contains all relevant information about the claim,
including correspondence, communications among WCB officers about the claim, and medical
records. An employer is allowed by law to obtain the WCB claim file when it is participating
in a formal appeal.
It is important for workers and employers to participate in the appeal
process so that the appeal bodies have all of the information they need to come to a
decision on an appeal issue. The Public Service as an employer is represented in all WCB
claim appeals by the BC Public Service Agency. Employees who have initiated a claim should
expect to see an Agency representative at an oral appeal hearing and/or to see a written
appeal submission prepared by the Agency on behalf of the employer. Employees can obtain
assistance with their appeals from their unions or associations. Employees can also consult
the Workers’ Advisers at the Ministry of Labour, who provide free advice and
assistance to workers regarding appeals and other WCB matters.
For more detailed information about the structure and operation of workers’
compensation appeal system, visit the WCB website (www.worksafebc.com). Employees can also consult their union or
association representative.
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