A plan by Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford to review thousands of old Workers’ Compensation Board claims is drawing criticism from both Alberta businesses and the head of the WCB.

“I have grave concerns over it,” Mary Cameron, president and CEO of the board told a Calgary business audience last week. “I don’t think you can ever make longstanding contentious claims go away.

“It will raise the temperature again in the system.”

Dunford announced Thursday that he plans to bring forward legislation to establish an independent three-person board to reconsider the cases of past WCB claimants who feel they were dealt with unfairly.

Mary Cameron

A task force made up of representatives from labour, employers and the WCB has already recommended that the claims to be reviewed must meet several requirements.

These include that they be worth more than $250; based on existing, rather than new evidence; allege unfairness backed up by documentation; and that while all levels of appeal have been exhausted, the case must not have been considered through judicial review.

“I want to make sure that injured workers understand we are moving towards establishing a process for reviewing these claims, but there is still work to be done,” Dunford said, in announcing the tribunal to be established next year.

But Cameron says the fact that no retroactive benefits will be awarded, even if the WCB is found to have mishandled the claim, may trigger more emotion among injured workers. “I think it will create a lot of anger,” she told a luncheon at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

She says Dunford has told her the costs of the tribunal and its support staff, which will include medical, legal and adjudication personnel, would be borne by the provincial government. But for any claims that are re-instated, she adds, “today’s employers will be paying for those.”

The not-for-profit, employer-funded WCB provides workplace liability insurance to 1.3 million workers and 105,000 employers.

Calgary Chamber of Commerce president Barry Rempel says business owners are worried that they’ll be on the hook for compensation claims from years ago. “There’s a large concern on the part of business with what happens with all these previous claims that are now suddenly going to be reopened,” he says. “What’s the liability? It’s just the unknown factor . . . it could be small, but it could be huge.

“Some of the businesses paying into the WCB today weren’t even in business 20 years ago. They don’t want to be paying now.”

Dunford is asking stakeholders to review the recommendations and send their comments by the end of January. Copies of the task force report are available at www.gov.ab.ca/hre/wcb

Meanwhile, Cameron also explained how some Alberta employers may be facing up to 76-per-cent hikes in their WCB premiums next year.

Blaming soaring medical costs and a sharp decline in equities markets, Cameron said the WCB can no longer afford to subsidize employer premiums as it has in the past.

The board reports that between 1997 and 2001, claims costs have doubled to $831 million, with a 104-per-cent rise in medical expenses, much of it attributed to the cost of leading-edge drugs.

“We’re an insurance company. When it comes down to it, if there are more costs and more expenses, then the rates will go up,” said Cameron.

The average premium rate will rise by 27.3 per cent to $1.68 per $100 of insurable earnings, a figure still subsidized 13 cents on the dollar by the board. But some sectors, including warehousing which has seen an increase in the number and costs of claims, will shoulder a hike of 76 per cent. Only three per cent of Alberta employers will actually see a decrease in rates next year.

Cameron said the WCB is moving towards a rate that better reflects the cost of workplace injuries, and is offering safety and injury-prevention programs as an incentive for premium discounts. Individual companies can reduce their rates if they participate in the Partners in Injury Reduction (PIR) program, which refunds companies for improving workplace safety.

The softening economy has also played a role in the move away from subsidization, and Cameron says WCB’s investments in equity markets, bonds and real estate – which have helped fund the subsidies to employer premiums in past years – have taken a hit. She added while the WCB is not losing money, it is making considerably less than in previous years.

Rempel said most business owners do understand the link between their premiums and their safety records, but some are unhappy having to face huge increases when they have already implemented safety programs.

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