Victoria: The B.C. government said injured workers will be better supported to return to their job, or other suitable employment, through new requirements under the Workers Compensation Act.
The province said effective January 1, 2024, an employer and injured worker will be required to co-operate with each other and with WorkSafeBC to ensure the worker can return to their pre-injury job, a comparable job or, where the worker is not fit to do their pre-injury work duties, to other suitable work.
“The duty-to-co-operate provisions will assist WorkSafeBC with overseeing the return-to-work process by laying out clear expectations, for both the employer and the worker, that they need to work together to get the injured worker back on the job in a safe and timely way,” the province added.
The changes also allow WorkSafeBC to impose administrative penalties on employers who fail to comply with their return-to-work obligations, the government added.
The new requirements were established in Bill 41, Workers Compensation Amendment Act (No. 2), 2022, which received royal assent on November 24, 2022.