Yukon Employers
All employers working in the Yukon must establish and maintain an account with the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board (YWCHSB). Employers operating in two or more industry categories will have one account with separate class and industries.
Registration: Employers must register with the YWCHSB, whether their workers are employed on a regular, casual or contract basis. They must contact the YWCHSB within 10 days of hiring a worker, outline their operations, and estimate their assessable payroll.
Basis of Earnings: Employers are assessed on the gross earnings of all workers, regardless of the time worked, up to the maximum assessable amount set annually by the YWCHSB. The YWCHSB classifies the employers' business according to the industry in which they operate. It is the industry of operation that determines the rate group, not the individual occupations of the workers. The rate set for the industry group and the reported assessable payroll is used to calculate the amount of assessment owed.
Employer's Payroll Return: Worker's compensation coverage is renewed at the beginning of each calendar year. As part of the process, employers must report, on the YWCHSB Employer's Payroll Return (EPR), their actual assessable payroll for the past year and an estimated assessable payroll for the coming year. EPRs are mailed to all registered employers in December. Filing returns by the end of February will avoid late filing penalties.
Estimated payroll: Employers can avoid receiving a penalty for underestimating their payroll by reviewing the assessable payroll during the year. They must revise their estimate if the actual payroll for the year exceeds the estimate.
Paying assessments: Employers may pay assessment in installments shown on their Statement of Assessment. If they do not pay assessments by the due date they will receive a nonpayment penalty.
If they cannot pay assessments by the due date, they should call their employer services officer to make special arrangements.
NOTE: It is against the law to take any form of deduction from the workers' earnings to pay the cost of YWCHSB coverage.
Keeping/producing records: Employers must keep accurate accounts of wages and other earnings as well as records of payments to contractors, subcontractors and contract labour. Employers operating in two or more industry categories must keep separate payrolls. They must produce all books and records as requested by assessment unit audit staff of the employer services branch. Assessment auditors make sure employers report correct amounts for assessment and that businesses are properly classified.
Changing operations/new ventures: Employers must contact the YWCHSB as soon as their business or organization moves into a new venture so that their rate or classification can be changed.
Closing operations: When employers close a business or other operation, they must contact the YWCHSB within 10 days to adjust and close their account.
Super assessment: The YWCHSB may "super-assess" employers with claims costs that significantly exceed their assessments.
Subcontractors: Employers should check with the YWCHSB before hiring a contractor or subcontractor, to see if their account is in good standing. If a contractor or subcontractor defaults on their YWCHSB assessment, the employer may be liable for their assessments. Employers can withhold funds from contractors or subcontractors until the employer confirms with the YWCHSB that the contractors' or subcontractors' assessments have been paid. The employer can do this by requesting a clearance letter from the YWCHSB. This clearance authorizes release of final payment. The YWCHSB, on request, will fax a clearance letter to the employer.
Classifying industries and setting rates: The employer services unit assigns an industry code and a class to all accounts. Similar types of operations with similar hazards or accident experience records are in the same rate classification. Rates are based on the accident record of the whole classification. This protects all employers from assessment fluctuations because of a poor accident record of individual employers. The YWCHSB reviews and sets rates annually.
Using assessments: Employers' assessment premiums pay for compensation to disabled workers -- loss of earnings, medical aid, rehabilitation and administration costs. (The Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan does not cover medical bills for a workers' compensation claim. These bills are paid by the YWCHSB.
Reserve funds:
Use of the compensation fund is specified in the Workers' Compensation Act
- Disasters or fluctuations in costs;
- An enhancement of a worker's disability; and
- Occupational diseases.
Working outside the Yukon: If an employer has an operation outside of the territory and employs Yukon workers, the employer should check with their assessment officer to see what coverage they should have in place and what wages to include in their payroll return.
The YWCHSB has an agreement with other boards in Canada to eliminate double assessments. Employers operating in more than one jurisdiction should contact the workers' compensation boards in all areas in which they are operating to make sure they meet local requirements.
Hired or rented equipment: When an employer hires a person, including contractors, subcontractors and sole proprietors, to operate rented equipment, they are 'workers' under the Workers' Compensation Act. The employer, as the principal, must include the labour earnings of these operators in their YWCHSB report (unless the YWCHSB has verified they have their own YWCHSB account).
Assessment includes operator earnings to:
- 100 per cent of the amount paid if no equipment is supplied;
- 25 per cent of the amount paid for supplying equipment (such as trucks, tractors, bulldozers, draglines or power shovels) with an operator;
- 50 per cent of the amount paid for supplying a portable welder with an operator; and
- any other percentage approved by the YWCHSB.
Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board
