$25.5 million to be paid out to employers
The Workers Compensation Board (WCB) of Prince Edward Island has announced there will be a much lower estimated average assessment rate for employers in the province next year.
The estimated average assessment rate for 2022 will be $1.43 per $100 of payroll. This marks a nine per cent or 14 cent reduction from 2021 rates.
“We are pleased to be able to provide stable and decreasing rates in a time where our Island economy has encountered many serious disruptions and instability in being able to project into the future,” said Jim MacPhee, chair of the WCB.
All employers in the province will be advised of their individual assessment rates in December 2021. The rates are based on the costs of claims and the risks of workplace injury in their specific industries and further are experience rated to the firm level. More information is available at wcb.pe.ca/2022rates.
For 2021, WorkSafeNB set its assessment rate at $2.17 assessment rate in for this year, down from $2.40 in 2020. That was, WorkSafeNB said, because there were fewer workplace accidents, lower claim costs and a reduction in administrative costs as well.
WCB PEI also announced a seven cent reduction has been applied to the required gross rate of $1.50 to bring it to $1.43. This is in accordance with the board’s Funding Policy and considering the funding status of the WCB.
WCB will also pay a $25.5 million surplus to employers in 2021. This is equal to approximately 15 per cent of the board’s total liabilities – valued at $166.3 million – at Dec. 31, 2020. The surplus will be distributed to eligible employers in December 2021. More details are available at wcb.pe.ca/surplus.
The funding status at Dec. 31, 2020 was 155.4 per cent. A surplus distribution may be considered if the board’s funding status is greater than 140 per cent.
Claim costs are the most significant cost driver considered during the annual rate setting process, with a 2022 estimated value of approximately $34.0 million dollars. Improved claim cost estimates have contributed to the decreased estimated average assessment rate of $1.43 for the 2022 year.
Injured workers’ satisfaction with the service they receive from WCB PEI in 2020 stood at 71 per cent. That mark was the second highest satisfaction rating for the board, just behind the 73 per cent recorded in 2014.
