Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has issued a new policy showing when the WSIB will punish – or show mercy to – employers that are required to register with the WSIB but have not done so.
The new policy took effect on February 1st, 2014. Not all Ontario employers are required to register with the WSIB.
The policy provides that where an employer is legally-required to register with WSIB but has not done so, while remaining undiscovered by the WSIB, if the employer voluntarily contacts the WSIB and discloses the non-compliance, the WSIB may (note – not “will”) waive penalties, refrain from laying charges, and not require payment of retroactive WSIB premiums prior to the “effective date of registration” (which is considered to be the later of the date of the employer’s first hire or 12 months prior to the month in which the employer made voluntary disclosure to the WSIB).
The policy states that the WSIB will, however, not show mercy on employers who have been “identified” to the WSIB prior to the employer’s voluntary disclosure – whether by the WSIB’s own “proactive registration activities”, or by anonymous calls to the WSIB’s ominous-sounding “Action Line”.
The moral of the story is that employers that may be required to register with the WSIB and have not done so, should strongly consider contacting the WSIB voluntarily in order to obtain the benefit of the Voluntary Registration policy, and hopefully avoid significant retroactive premiums and penalties.
The Voluntary Registration Policy may be found here.
