A number of legislative changes affecting employers in British Columbia took effect in January 2024. Below is a summary of these changes and where to go for more information.

Health & Safety Legislation

Bill 41, the Workers Compensation Act Amendment Act (No. 2), 2022 received Royal Assent on November 24, 2022. The legislation introduced 7 amendments to support workers in BC, with 6 amendments already enacted and the final amendment taking effect on January 1, 2024.

This amendment adds a legal duty for workers and employers to cooperate in a worker’s early and safe return to work, as well as a legal duty for employers who regularly employ 20 or more workers to maintain the employment of injured workers who have been employed for at least 12 months before their injury.

The duty to cooperate:

  • Applies to claims with injury dates on or after January 1, 2022.
  • Creates obligations for workers and employers to cooperate with each other, and with WorkSafeBC, to identify and make suitable work available to workers in a timely and safe manner following an injury.
  • Requires employers and workers to contact each other and maintain communication while the worker is off work due to injury.

The duty to maintain employment:

  • Applies to claims with injury dates on or after July 1, 2023.
  • Creates an obligation for employers to maintain an injured worker’s employment if the employer employs 20 or more people and has employed the injury worker on a full-time or part-time basis for at least 1 year before their injury.
  • Requires an employer to offer either the pre-injury work, or a comparable alternative, if an injured worker is fit to return to their pre-injury work.
  • Requires an employer to offer the first suitable work that becomes available if an injured worker cannot perform their pre-injury work but is otherwise fit to work in another capacity.
  • Requires employers to make any changes necessary to the work or workplace to accommodate an injured worker, unless the changes create an undue hardship for the employer.

While the majority of employers, are likely already following these practices as a normal course of business when managing injured workers, this legislation formalizes the obligations and expectations. For more information, go to WorkSafeBC’s Bill 41 resources:

 

Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) Administrative Policy Regarding Payroll

This new CRA administrative policy determines the employee’s province or territory of employment (“POE”) for payroll purposes. The POE is important for determining the appropriate payroll deductions (i.e. income tax, CPP and EI deductions) to withhold and is particularly important for fully remote workers.

The POE is determined by a number of factors including:

  • the type of income
  • the residency status of the employee
  • the establishment of the employer where the employee reports to work.

The establishment of the employer is any place or premise in Canada that is owned, leased or rented by the employer where employees report to work or from which employees are paid. For the purposes of the POE, this does not need to be a permanent physical location. Generally, an employee’s home office is not considered an establishment of the employer. Where an employee is reasonably considered to be attached to an establishment of the employer, then that employer location would become the POE.

Further information on establishing a province or territory of employment can be found on the CRA website.

 

 

Posted by Clear HR Consulting on February 1, 2024