Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Alternate Insurance Plans), 2012 Hillier, Randy — Bill 87 (40th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 87, 40-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 87, Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Alternate Insurance Plans), 2012

Hillier, Randy

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[40] Bill 87 Original (PDF)

Bill 87 2012

An Act to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act,

1997 to provide employers with the right to participate in alternate insurance

plans

Note:

This Act amends the Workplace

Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 . For the legislative history of

the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative

History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Workplace Safety and Insurance

Act, 1997

1. Subsection 2 (1) of the Workplace Safety and Insurance

Act, 1997 is amended by adding the following definition:

"alternate

plan" means a plan in which a

Schedule 1 employer or a

Schedule 2 employer has

opted to participate under

section 67 and under which workers of the employer

are entitled to receive benefits from an insurer that is not a body that comes

within the definition of "public sector" in subsection 2 (1) of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure

Act, 1996 ; ("régime concurrent")

Part I of the Act is amended by adding the

following section:

Alternate plans

2.2 Subject

to the regulations made under this Act, nothing in this Act applies to an

employer or a worker employed by the employer if the employer has opted to

participate in an alternate plan under

section 67 and the alternate plan is in

force, except if the context specifically provides otherwise.

3. Subsection 11 (1) of the Act is amended by

striking out the portion before clause (

a) and substituting the following:

Insured workers

(1) The insurance plan

applies to every worker who is employed by a

Schedule 1 employer or a

Schedule

2 employer except if the employer opts to participate in an alternate plan

under

section 67 and the alternate plan is in force. However, the

insurance plan does not apply to workers who are,

. . . .

Section 16 of the Act is amended by adding

"or an alternate plan" after "the insurance plan".

5. Subsection 26 (2) of the Act is amended by

adding "or an alternate plan" after "the insurance plan".

Section 27 of the Act is amended by adding

the following subsection:

Same, alternate plan

(1.1) Sections 28 and 29

apply with respect to a worker who sustains an injury or a disease that

entitles him or her to benefits under an alternate plan and to the survivors of

a deceased worker who are entitled to benefits under an alternate plan.

7. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of subsection 29 (1) of

the Act are amended by adding at the end "or an alternate plan" in each case.

(1) Section 67 of the Act is

amended by adding "unless the employer opts to participate in an alternate plan

under subsections (3) and (4) and the alternate plan is in force" at the end.

(2) Section 67 of the Act is amended by

adding the following subsections:

Definition

(2) In this section,

"Tribunal"

means the Financial Services Tribunal established under the Financial Services Commission of

Ontario Act, 1997.

Alternate plan

(3) A

Schedule 1 employer or a

Schedule 2 employer may opt

to participate in an alternate plan if, under it, workers of the employer are

entitled to benefits that are comparable to those to which they would be

entitled under the insurance plan, as it exists on the day the Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment

Act (Alternate Insurance Plans), 2012 comes into force, if the

employer had not opted to participate in the alternate plan.

Means of opting for alternate plan

(4) In order to opt to participate in an alternate plan

under subsection (3), an employer shall file notice containing the prescribed

particulars with the Board at the prescribed time.

Appeal

(5) If an employer has opted to participate in an

alternate plan and the alternate plan is in force, the employer or any workers of

the employer who are affected by a decision of the insurer under the alternate

plan may appeal the decision to the Tribunal in accordance with the prescribed

requirements, if any.

Notice of appeal

(6) A notice of appeal shall be in writing and

shall be served on the insurer and filed with the Tribunal within 30 days after

the date of the insurer's decision or within whatever other time period that is

prescribed.

Hearing

(7) The Tribunal shall hold a hearing of an

appeal.

Parties

(8) The parties to an appeal are the person

who requests the appeal, the insurer and the other persons whom the Tribunal

specifies.

Power of the Tribunal

(9) Upon hearing an appeal, the Tribunal may,

by order, confirm, vary or rescind the decision appealed from or substitute its

decision for that of the insurer.

Stay of decision

(10) The filing of a notice of appeal does not

stay the decision of the insurer but the Tribunal may grant a stay until it

disposes of the appeal.

Regulations

(11) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make

regulations,

(

a) prescribing

anything that is described as being prescribed under this section;

(

b) specifying

which provisions of this Act and the regulations made under it apply and do not

apply to alternate plans and the circumstances in which the provisions apply or

do not apply;

(

c) providing

for transitional matters to deal with an employer who opts to participate in an

alternate plan;

(

d) governing

the conduct of an appeal to the Tribunal under this

section and the powers and

duties of the Tribunal and the parties to the appeal with respect to the

appeal.

9. Subsection 75 (1) of the Act is amended by

adding "except if the employer has opted to participate in an alternate plan

under

section 67 and the alternate plan is in force" at the end.

Section 182.1 of the Act is repealed.

Workplace Safety and

Insurance Amendment Act, 2008

11. Sections 1 to 8, 10 and 11 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance

Amendment Act, 2008 are repealed.

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

12. This Act comes into force on the day it

receives Royal Assent.

Short title

13. The

short title of this Act is the Workplace Safety and Insurance

Amendment Act (Alternate Insurance Plans), 2012 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The

Bill amends the Workplace

Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to allow an employer, at any time,

to opt to participate in an insurance plan that is offered by a private-sector

insurer, instead of the insurance plan established under the Act, if the

alternate plan offers benefits to the employer's workers that are comparable to

those offered by the insurance plan as it exists under the Act as of the date

that the amendments to the Act come into force. To exercise the option, an

employer is required to file a notice with the Workplace Safety and Insurance

Board containing the particulars specified in the regulations made under the

Act. If an alternate plan is in force, the employer or any workers of the

employer who are affected by a decision of the insurer under the alternate plan

may appeal the decision to the Financial Services Tribunal.

The

Bill also repeals the amendments to the Act made by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act, 2008

which presently do not come into force until January 1, 2013. Those amendments

would have made insurance coverage mandatory in the construction industry for

independent operators, sole proprietors, partners in partnerships and executive

officers of corporations. As a result, insurance coverage for those categories

of persons in the construction industry reverts to being optional.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 8, 2012

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

May 8, 2012

Committee

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 87

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997

Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act, 2008

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 87, 40-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p40 s1 bill 87 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	914198f72191fc4ed8fbdaeca944bef7cf2f84bd

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).