The Government of Saskatchewan introduced proposed amendments to the Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 this week. The proposed changes seek to improve rehabilitation and speed up the return-to-work process. They also focus on enhancing fairness, clarity and consistency in the administration of benefits and strengthen compliance, governance and administrative processes. “It’s about compliance and it’s about fairness and it’s about ensuring that we’re at the leading edge of those compensations,” said Ken Cheveldayoff, minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). Cheveldayoff said the board outlined the amendments based on the feedback it hears from employees throughout the year. “As a government, we felt the introduction of this legislation should happen sooner rather than later,” Cheveldayoff told media on Tuesday. The changes include: WCB CEO Phillip Germain said the board has been thinking of value-added changes that better serve injured workers and help employers serve those workers while making sure the system remains fair. “We’re trying to improve — make sure that workers are fully supported when they attend medical treatments, we’re trying to expand care coverage in terms of expanding the ability for workers to get their psychological claims diagnosed quicker,” Germain said. “We’re looking at making sure that there’s timely resolution to issues that are identified … a timely rehabilitation and return to work is in the best interest of both workers and employers and when that doesn’t happen, there can be negative consequences for injured workers when they don’t rehabilitate and return to work quickly.” Germain also stressed the importance of timely reporting, which aids the decision-making process and allows employers to participate in a more balanced way.
