Workplace Safety and Insurance Act changes will hurt industry: critics

TORONTO

Critics say changes to Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act will kill construction jobs and drive more people into the underground economy.

Independent operators and small business owners in construction have to register to begin paying WSIB premiums for office staff, managers and partners starting Jan. 1, 2013.

Progressive Conservative labour critic Randy Hillier calls the change a big tax hike on small companies, and says it’s only being done because the WSIB has a $14 billion unfunded liability. Hillier says the small companies will have to pay WSIB premiums for workers who may never set foot on a construction site.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the change will cost the average small construction company $11,000 a year, and will force them to raise prices, cut jobs or go out of business. The CFIB says independent owner-operators already pay for private business insurance.

The WSIB says the new rules will improve health and safety in the construction sector and “ensure everyone is paying their fair share under the collective liability system.”

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2011

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