Bill 98 2015

An Act to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 with respect to loss of earnings and survivor benefits

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  (1)  The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 is amended by adding the following section:

Payments for loss of earnings, where worker is retired at time of injury

   43.1  (1)  This section applies if, at the time of a worker's injury, the worker was no longer engaged in the trade or occupation to which the injury was due and therefore did not have a loss of earnings as a result of the injury.

Same

   (2)  A worker mentioned in subsection (1) is entitled to payments under section 43 beginning when the loss of earnings would have begun, had the worker still been working at the time of the injury.

Same

   (3)  For the purposes of applying section 43 in respect of a worker mentioned in subsection (1), the net average earnings of the worker shall be the amount determined by the Board to be fair and equitable having regard to the average earnings of a fully qualified person engaged in the same trade or occupation before the injury.

Entitlement, before 2015 amendments

   (4)  A worker who was not entitled to receive payments under section 43 before the day section 1 of the Protecting Victims of Occupational Disease Act, 2015 comes into force is entitled to receive payments under that section based on what the worker would have been entitled to receive, had section 1 of the Protecting Victims of Occupational Disease Act, 2015 been in force.

   2.  (1)  Subsection 48 (24) of the Act is amended by adding "subject to subsection (25)" at the end.

   (2)  Section 48 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection before the heading "Annual Adjustments":

Net average earnings, worker retired etc.

   (25)  If the deceased worker was, at the time of the worker's injury, no longer engaged in the trade or occupation to which the injury was due, the worker's net average earnings shall be the amount determined by the Board to be fair and equitable having regard to the average earnings of a fully qualified person engaged in the same trade or occupation at the time of the injury.

   3.  The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Pre-2015 determinations of periodic payments

   48.1  (1)  In this section,

"pre-2015 determination" means a determination of periodic payments made by the Board under section 48 before the day section 1 of the Protecting Victims of Occupational Disease Act, 2015 comes into force.

Application for review

   (2)  A person who was entitled to receive periodic payments under section 48 as a result of a pre-2015 determination may apply to the Board for a review of the pre-2015 determination if the deceased worker was, at the time of the worker's injury, no longer engaged in the trade or occupation to which the injury was due.

Entitlement of applicant

   (3)  A person who makes an application under subsection (2) is entitled to payment of the difference between the pre-2015 determination and the determination that would have been made, had section 2 of the Protecting Victims of Occupational Disease Act, 2015 been in force at the time of the pre-2015 determination.

Commencement

   4.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   5.  The short title of this Act is the Protecting Victims of Occupational Disease Act, 2015.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Section 43 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 provides for payments for loss of earnings to a worker where the loss of earnings results from an injury, which includes occupational disease. The Bill addresses the situation of a worker who is no longer working at the time of contracting an occupational disease by providing for loss of earnings to be determined in this case as if the worker had still been working at the time of the diagnosis.

Section 48 of the Act provides for death benefits to be paid to survivors when a worker dies due to an injury for which the worker would otherwise have been entitled to benefits under the insurance plan. The Bill amends that section to address situations where a deceased worker was no longer working at the time of the injury, including at the time of contracting an occupational disease. The amendments require the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to calculate payments in these situations based on the average earnings of a fully qualified person engaged in the deceased worker's occupation or trade at the time of the diagnosis. The Bill also provides for previous determinations of death benefits to be reviewed based on the same criterion.