Bill 76 2013

An Act to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to protect benefits for spouses of deceased, retired workers

Note: This Act amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.  For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  Section 48 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 is amended by adding the following subsection:

Net average earnings, occupational disease diagnosed after retirement

   (25)  For the purposes of this section, the net average earnings of a deceased worker who was diagnosed with an occupational disease after he or she retired are to be determined as of the date of the deceased worker's last exposure to the biological, chemical or physical agent that caused the occupational disease.

Commencement

   2.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   3.  The short title of this Act is the Workers' Death Benefits Protection Act, 2013.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to provide that if a deceased worker was diagnosed with an occupational disease after he or she retired, the deceased worker's net average earnings shall, for the purposes of calculating death benefits, be determined as of the date of the deceased worker's last exposure to the biological, chemical or physical agent that caused the occupational disease.