WSCC Announce 2022 Employer Assessment Rates

The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (WSCC) has announced that the average employer assessment...

WSCC Announce 2022 Employer Assessment Rates

The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (WSCC) has announced that the average employer assessment rate or base rate will remain at the same level as last year.

In 2022, the average rate will hold steady for the second year in a row at $2.40 per $100 of assessable payroll. This is the base rate the WSCC uses as the starting point when setting individual subclass rates.
Employers who have similar operations and share similar risks are grouped together and each employer will pay a specific amount based on the group rate for their industry and the size of their payroll. While the base rate will remain the same in 2022, group rates or ‘subclasses’ will increase or decrease based on the workplace injury claims costs of the employers within each industry grouping.

Between 2016 and 2020, 11 of the 16 sub-classes of employers in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut demonstrated improvements in their claims costs, while 5 sub-classes showed increases in their claims costs. As a result, those 11 groupings will see rate decreases and 5 will see increases in 2022. Examples of industries with rate increases for next year include Trucking and Water Transportation, Mining Operations, Health, Welfare and Emergency Services, Automotive Sales & Services, and the Governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut and Public Utilities. Examples of subclass groups with a decrease in the rates they will pay include General Construction, Retail and Outdoor Recreation and Tourism.

“The assessment rates for each employer group moves in step with the injury experience of that group to cover the current and future costs of workplace injuries”, said Debbie Molloy, WSCC President and CEO. “It is important for employers to remember that their performance matters and that they can influence the rates they pay by putting effective safety programs in place to prevent work related injuries and incidents.”

BACKGROUNDER 2022 Assessment Rates
– Employers in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut share the cost of the workers’ compensation system through the payments they make to the WSCC every year to sustain the ‘Workers’ Protection Fund’.
– The WSCC provides a form of no-fault group insurance coverage based on the Meredith Principles. This protects employers from the cost of lawsuits related to workplace injuries, and ensures that workers receive benefits and services if they suffer a workplace injury or illness.
– The 2022 Average Provisional Assessment Rate will remain at $2.40 per $100 assessable payroll. This is the rate employers would pay if there were only one rate for all employers, and is the base rate the WSCC uses as the starting point when setting individual subclass rates. Each employer pays a specific amount based on the group rate for their industry and the size of their payroll.
– The WSCC calculates rates annually in consultation with independent actuaries through a review of target funding levels, anticipated operating expenses and past trend analysis. This determines the rates required to cover all the current and future costs associated with workplace injuries.
– The claims cost experience used for developing the 2022 rates is calendar years 2016 to 2020 for injuries that occurred during that same period. A period of 3 to 5 years provides an opportunity for industries to implement improvements to avoid rate increases.
– In setting Assessment Rates, the WSCC Governance Council considers what is:
– Sustainable for claim costs;
– Reflective of industry experience;
– Responsive to claims experience trends; and
– Fair to employers.
– The 2022 Year’s Maximum Insurable Remuneration (YMIR) will increase from $97,300 to $102,200. YMIR is the maximum amount of earnings the WSCC uses to calculate compensation for injured workers per year. An employer’s assessable payroll is the gross salary for each worker up to the YMIR limit.
– When an employer registers with WSCC, they are classified according to their main line of business and placed in a Rate Group or ‘Sub Class’. The assessment rates collected from each rate group pay for the costs of injuries and diseases that arise from that particular group. Each rate group must be large enough to provide an adequate spread of risk and some stability to the base rate. The WSCC reviews the employer classification structure as part of annual rate setting to ensure fairness and rate stability.
– In 2022, subclass 10 (Outdoor Recreation and Tourism) has been combined with subclass 76 (Accommodation, Catering, Food and Beverage Services) for rate setting. WSCC currently projects that it will take 5 years for employers in these two subclass groups to transition to a fully combined rate and merge. In 2022 (year one), subclass 10 will see a decrease of 20% and subclass 76 will see a decrease of 15%. This period of transition is necessary due to the 20% annual rate change cap that is in place to limit how much rates can increase or decrease each year for a particular employer group.

Employers can conveniently access the individual subclass rates for all industries for the upcoming year through the WSCC’s online service WSCC Connect. You can view current and historical rates by Class & Subclass and by Specific Industry. WSCC Connect is accessible through wscc.nt.ca or wscc.nu.ca. Click on the WSCC Connect logo located at the top of the page and follow the button to View Assessment Rates.

Maggie Collins
Communications Manager
T: (867) 920-3854
E: Maggie.Collins@wscc.nt.ca

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