Yellowknife, NT (November 25, 2021) – 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.”
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Maggie Collins
Communications Manager
T: (867) 920-3854