Act Now - The Report of the WCB Legislative Review Panel to the

The Acts require any employer, whether based in the NWT/Nunavut or not, to notify theWCB and pay assessments when they have workers working in the NWT/Nunavut. Thisapplies whether the work takes an hour or is ongoing.Some workers’ compensation legislation, including the NWT/Nunavut legislation(Section 15), provides coverage for workers based in the NWT/Nunavut who may beworking temporarily outside the territories. It is important to understand that thiscoverage is not extended by all jurisdictions. It is also important to note that thelegislation in the jurisdiction a worker is working in takes precedence over the legislationin the worker’s home jurisdiction.In addition, some workers’ compensation legislation exempts employers not based intheir jurisdiction from notifying and/or paying assessments for workers who aretemporarily working in that jurisdiction. For example, British Columbia exempts thepayment of assessments for workers based outside British Columbia who are performingwork there for 9 consecutive days. Whether such workers are covered by their homejurisdiction depends on the legislation of that jurisdiction.In the case of the trucking industry, there is an interjurisdictional agreement among theWCBs in Canada (except Saskatchewan) to avoid the payment of duplicate assessmentsand ensure the continuous coverage of workers who temporarily work in more than onejurisdiction.Those NWT/Nunavut-based employers who are required to pay assessments in otherjurisdictions as well as in the NWT/Nunavut may deduct the amount paid to otherjurisdictions from their annual accounting to the WCB.The Panel agreed that it is an administrative nightmare for employers outside theNWT/Nunavut whose workers are temporarily working in this jurisdiction. They may beable to recover duplicate payments from their home jurisdiction, but this is after the factand requires a sophisticated tracking system.WCB Legislative Review Panel Report Page 66 of 128December, 2001