Ontario Wants To Give You More Money For Injuries At Work & Here's How Much
This applies to anyone who's out sick on the job, too.
Doug Ford. Right: Construction worker.
As the government puts forth more plans to invest in workers in Ontario ahead of provincial elections in June, they're now voicing their support for increasing how much someone can be paid for losing out on income due to an injury at work.
On April 20, the Ontario government announced that they wanted to increase the money workers can get when they've been injured or fallen sick due to their job.
"The government and the [Workplace Safety and Insurance] Board are exploring raising this compensation up to 90 per cent. For an injured worker who earns $60,000 a year, this increase could mean an additional $2,315 per year," they said in a press release.
As of right now, they said the WSIB gives injured workers payments that are "equal to 85 per cent of their pre-accident take-home pay."
An independent insurance company that is funded by Ontario businesses, the WSIB provides everything from medical coverage to wage-loss benefits in over 300,000 workplaces, for people who suffer from workplace-related sickness or injury.
In order for injured workers to see more money in their pockets, the government expressed that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act would need to be changed to the new rate.
Under the act, payment for injured or sick workers is measured by the "net average earnings" before an injury, the "net average" of how much they currently earn or they're able to able to earn, and the employment opportunities that they could get after their injury.
"The plan to raise benefits would direct more money to injured workers and families, while minimizing the impact on the Board’s financial health and employers’ premium rates," the government expressed in the release.