Entitlement to Compensation
What Does "Work-related" Mean?
In order for a disease, injury or death to be compensable, it must be work-related. The Workers' Compensation Act (2008) defines "work-related" as "arising out of and in the course of employment". Whether an accident arose out of and in the course of employment determines whether the claim is accepted by the YWCHSB.
Section 17 of the Workers' Compensation Act (2008) directs the YWCHSB to presume that if an injury arose out of employment, then it also arose in the course of employment, and vice-versa. Therefore, the injury is considered work-related and the worker is compensated. However, if it is shown (not proven) with sufficient and reasonable evidence that the injury did not arise either out of employment, or in the course of employment, the injury is not considered work-related, and the worker is not entitled to compensation.
"Arising out of employment" means that an injury was caused by a worker's employment. It is linked to, originates from, or is the result of an activity or action undertaken because of the worker's employment.
"Arising in the course of employment" means that the injury is linked to the worker's employment in terms of time, place and activity. It is the direct result of an activity, action, procedure, or conduct undertaken during the worker's employment.
What Is an Injury
In order to receive compensation, a worker must experience a work-related injury. The Workers' Compensation Act (2008) provides a defination of injury;
"Injury means"
(a) an injury as a result of an event, or series
of events, occasioned by a physical or natural cause,
(b) an injury as a result of a wilful and
intentional act, not being the act of the
worker,
(c) a disablement, but does not include the
disablement of mental stress or disablement
caused by mental stress, other than posttraumatic
stress,
(d) an occupational disease, which includes a
disease from causes and conditions peculiar
to or characteristic of a particular trade or
occupation or peculiar to the particular
employment; but does not include an
ordinary disease of life,or
(e) death as a result of an injury;
What is a Permanent Impairment?
The YWCHSB uses the term "permanent impairment" when a worker's employment causes them to permanently lose or derange any body part, system or function. In this case, the worker is eligible for a permanent impairment award. The permanent award is based on the worker's age and on the degree of impairment as rated under the American Medical Association Guides. It is paid as a lump sum, or as an annuity.
In this context, a worker who is suffering from an injury may or may not have a permanent impairment; conversely, someone with a permanent impairment may not be suffering from an injury.
Who Is a Worker?
Only "workers" are entitled to receive compensation benefits. Others may purchase optional coverage.
The following people are workers, or have been deemed or designated by the YWCHSB to be workers:
- people who perform services for an employer under a contract of service, which can be express or implied. It means that there is a "master/servant" relationship between the worker and the employer;
- people doing mine rescue work after a catastrophe, if the work is authorized by the person in charge of a mine or of an authorized mine rescue crew;
- learners;
- registered apprentices in a recognized program;
- directors of corporations in the Yukon. Upon the application of a director, the YWCHSB may deem them not to be a worker;
- members of the Legislative Assembly;
- any person deemed by the board or by regulation to be a worker;
- members of a volunteer fire brigade or members of a volunteer ambulance brigade;
- people summoned to assist in controlling or extinguishing a fire by an authority empowered to do so;
- people who assist in any search and rescue operations at the request of and under the direction of a peace officer;
- people who assist in connection with an emergency that has been declared to exist by a mayor of a municipality or by the Commissioner in Executive Council;
- auxiliary members of a police force;
- people who are engaged in a work program or who are performing community service activities while serving a term of imprisonment in the Yukon, if the program or activity is conducted or designated by the Government of the Yukon;
- people who are engaged in a work program or who are performing community service activities as a requirement of their probation for an offense, if the program or activity is conducted or designated by the Government of the Yukon;
- Yukon College students receiving a training allowance from the Government of the Yukon to assist their attendance at Yukon College and who are engaged in a program of training in a work-place;
- students at a school other than a private school in the Yukon who are engaged in a program of training in a work-place;
- people who, with the consent of the Government of the Yukon, perform services on behalf of the Government as volunteers;
- people receiving disability insurance benefits, benefits under the Employment Insurance Act (Canada) in respect of unemployment caused by illness, assistance under the Social Assistance Act or services under the Rehabilitation Services Act, and who are engaged in a program of training in a work-place as directed by the Government of the Yukon.
The following people are not considered workers for the purpose of workers' compensation:
- an outworker - a person who repairs, cleans, or alters articles and materials on premises not controlled or managed by the person who gave the articles or materials;
- people employed on a casual basis, for purposes other than the employer's industry. Casual basis means employment that is irregular, unpredictable, sporadic and brief in nature;
- a person acting in a religious function as a duly ordained or appointed cleric, a member of a religious order or as a lay reader;
- a person working under a contract of service or apprenticeship outside the Yukon, who ordinarily resides outside the Yukon, and who is employed by an employer based outside the Yukon whose business in the Yukon is on a temporary basis (15 calendar days annually, or less);
- a sole proprietor - a self-employed person, or a partner in a partnership, who does not employ workers;
- some volunteers.
Optional coverage
Employers may purchase optional coverage for workers employed on a casual basis, otherwise than for the purposes of their industry, for outworkers, for people acting in a religious function as a duly ordained or appointed cleric, member of a religious order or as a lay reader, and for volunteers not already deemed to be workers.
Sole proprietors may purchase optional coverage for themselves.
Municipalities and First Nations may purchase optional coverage for their officials.
Who Is an Employer?
Under the Workers' Compensation Act (2008), an employer is any person, firm, association, organization or corporation who hires one or more workers in an industry. An industry is an establishment, an undertaking, a trade or a business that is carried on in the Yukon, except those that are excluded by regulation. At the moment, all are included.
Employers include the Government of the Yukon; the Government of Canada in cases where it submits to the Act¹; sole proprietors that the YWCHSB deems to be employers; a person who hires someone in their domestic service (unless it is on a casual basis); a trustee, receiver, liquidator, executor or administrator who carries on in an industry; and any other person that the YWCHSB deems to be an employer under the Workers' Compensation Act.
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, an employer is a person who employs at least one worker, or who contracts for the services of one or more workers. This definition includes contractors and subcontractors who undertake with owners, constructors, contractors or subcontractors to perform work or supply services.
¹Federal government employees are generally covered under the federal Government Employees Compensation Act, and claims from federal government employees in the Yukon who suffer a work-related disability are ordinarily handled by the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta.
Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board
