Rebate money issued to employers under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s Experience Rating System should be reinvested in safety programs and not be part of a company’s revenue stream.

This was the suggestion of some safety practitioners to officials of the WSIB during one of the sessions at this year’s Human Resources Professionals Association Conference.

 On June 13, 2008, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario issued the “Fatal Claim Premium Adjustment” policy that cancels rebates earned by employers in the case of a workplace fatality.

The WSIB’s new policy is anti-employer and arguably puts fault back into a workers’ compensation system that has been based on a no-fault principle since its inception in 1914 under the Meredith principle. The WSIB offered little explanation for this dramatic policy change, which appears to have been implemented further to avoid media scrutiny and to further punish employers.