Bill 147 2015

An Act to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 with respect to firefighter benefits

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

   1.  The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 is amended by adding the following section:

Firefighter employed concurrently by Schedule 1, Schedule 2 employer

   94.1  (1)  This section applies if a firefighter is entitled to benefits under the insurance plan because of an occupational disease that may have occurred as a result of the firefighter's employment while concurrently employed as a firefighter by one or more Schedule 1 employers and one or more Schedule 2 employers.

Determination of employer

   (2)  In determining a firefighter's employer for the purposes of the insurance plan, the Board shall not determine that one of the employers mentioned in subsection (1) is the employer solely because the firefighter was working for that employer when the firefighter was last exposed to a substance that may have resulted in the occupational disease.

Same, regulations

   (3)  The Board shall determine the firefighter's employer for the purposes of the insurance plan by taking into consideration the prescribed factors.

Obligations of other employers

   (4)  The Board shall, in accordance with the prescribed rules, determine the obligations for the purposes of the insurance plan of all employers mentioned in subsection (1), which determination may include apportioning costs between the employers.

Same

   (5)  If the Board determines under subsection (4) that costs should be apportioned between employers, each employer is liable to make such payments as the Board considers just to the employer who is liable to pay the benefits under the plan.

Lieutenant Governor in Council Regulations

   (6)  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

  (a)  prescribing the factors to be taken into consideration under subsection (3), which may include the number of hours worked for an employer or the duration of exposure to specified substances while working for an employer;

  (b)  prescribing rules for determining the obligations of employers under subsection (4).

Commencement

   2.  This Act comes into force six months after the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   3.  The short title of this Act is the Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Firefighter Benefits), 2015.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 with respect to firefighters entitled to benefits under the insurance plan because of an occupational disease that may have occurred as a result of concurrent employment by one or more Schedule 1 employers and one or more Schedule 2 employers.

The Board is prohibited from determining that an employer is a firefighter's employer for the purposes of the insurance plan solely based on the fact that the firefighter's last exposure to the substance that may have caused the occupational disease occurred while working for that employer.

The Lieutenant Governor in Council is given the power to make regulations prescribing factors that the Board is required to take into consideration when determining a firefighter's employer for the purpose of the insurance plan and rules for determining the obligations of the concurrent employers.