Update on WorksafeBC

Last month, CFIG, along with a number of employer groups, pushed back against a proposal by WorksafeBC that would result in the NDP government agency ‘presuming’ that anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, must have contracted the virus in their workplace.   This, despite the fact that the discussion paper with that proposal, itself contains the admission that there is no evidence that allows that presumption to be automatically made.   A person can contact the virus anywhere through any of the myriad of activities people engage in daily.   Unions pushing this approach, of dispensing with any investigation and adjudication, have been communicating with other provinces and last month the NDP opposition in Ontario, introduced private members Bill 191, which would require that provinces WSIB to adopt the same automatic presumption that the employer is responsible.   A copy of the CFIG submission to the BC government can be accessed by members HERE.