EXECUTIVE OFFICERS – A REMINDER FROM THE OEA

The Office of the Employer Adviser is seeing a number of inquiries from construction employers who have been assessed retroactively for unpaid executive officer premiums. This is a reminder that since 2013 the Workers’ Compensation Act requires all executive officers or partners to pay premiums on their insurable earnings. This is regardless of whether the executive / partner is working in construction, stays in the office, or is enjoying her retirement in a warmer climate. If an executive / partner is issued a T4 or a T5 or paid in some other manner, the company must pay premiums on their earnings.

If the WSIB audits the company and realizes that premiums have not been paid, the company will be retroactively assessed for the current year plus two prior years. This could be a lot of money. We recently had a company call us in this unhappy circumstance as they had a $90,000 bill from the WSIB for non-payment of executive officer premiums. But there is a simple and quick solution.

If your company has executive officers who are not doing construction work, then one of them can opt out of paying premiums all together, and any other executives who don’t do construction work can take advantage of paying in Rate Group 755 which charges a premium rate of twenty-one cents. To do this log on to the WSIB’s website and look for the employer forms page or simply Google WSIB employer forms. Look for Form 1209A – the Request for Rate Group 755, or Form 1208A - Partner or Executive Officer in Construction Exemption from Coverage. And one final word of caution; if you think you have found a loophole around paying premiums it probably will not stand WSIB audit scrutiny. Please check your status with your legal adviser to ensure you are in compliance with the Act, or call the OEA at 1 (800) 387-0774

Michael Zacks, Director
Office of the Employer Adviser