Temporary Employment Agencies (TEAs) should become familiar with a change to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (“WSIA”)[1], which creates a new classification, 001281, added to Class L.
Traditionally, for premium setting with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) under the WSIA, TEAs report and pay premiums for labour provided based on their respective clients’ premium classifications.
The classification change, effective January 1, 2025, may simplify reporting for TEAs, especially those supplying varied employment sectors and which keep segregated payroll and wage records, as it allows for reporting the supply of administrative, clerical, and certain technological employees under one classification for premium-setting.
Another potential benefit of this new classification is the recognition that administrative, clerical, and knowledge-based labour carries a lower risk of injury. Accordingly, the premium rate is lower in many instances than that which may have been previously paid by a TEA in connection with the classification of a given client. For example, in connection with a temporary clerical worker sent to work at a construction company head office, the TEA would be assessed as at the same classification and rates as the construction company, which currently can be significant but does not recognize the inherent low injury risk of a clerical employee. The current premium rate for Class L is $0.20 per $100 of insurable earnings.
Though the change is not effective until the New Year, an advance copy of the WSIB’s proposed revisions to Operational Policy 14-01-08 addressing these changes is available online [1] for TEAs that wish to get a head start on understanding the new classification.
[1] https://www.wsib.ca/sites/default/files/2024-07/140108advancecopy20240718.pdf.
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