HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 5.1 (1) (a) of the Workers Compensation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 492, is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) is a reaction to

(i) one or more traumatic events arising out of and in the course of the worker's employment, or

(ii) a significant work-related stressor, or a cumulative series of significant work-related stressors, arising out of and in the course of the worker's employment, .

2 Section 17 (11) (a) is amended by striking out "3 years;" and substituting "2 years,".

3 Section 33.2 is repealed and the following substituted:

Exception to section 33.1 (2) — apprentice or learner

33.2  (1) This section applies to a worker who, at the time of injury, is an apprentice in a trade, an occupation or a profession, or is a person referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of "worker".

(2) If a worker's injury results in a temporary disability that continues after the initial payment period, the Board must, for the period starting after the end of the initial payment period, determine the amount of average earnings of the worker based on the greater of the following:

(a) the rate at which the worker was remunerated by each of the employers for whom he or she was employed at the time of the injury;

(b) the worker's gross earnings, as determined by the Board, for the 12 month period immediately preceding the date of injury.

(3) If a worker's injury results in a permanent disability, the Board must, for the period starting on the date, as determined by the Board, that the injury resulted in a permanent disability, determine the amount of average earnings of the worker based on the gross earnings, as determined by the Board, for the 12 month period immediately preceding the date of injury, of a qualified person employed at the starting rate in the same trade, occupation or profession

(a) by the same employer, or

(b) if no person is so employed, by an employer in the same region.

4 The provisions listed in Column 1 of the following table are amended by striking out the dollar amount set out opposite them in Column 2 and substituting the dollar amount set out opposite them in Column 3:

Transitional Provisions

Transition — mental stress

5  Section 5.1 of the Workers Compensation Act, as amended by section 1 of this Act, applies to every decision made by the Board or the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal on or after January 1, 2012, the date section 1 of this Act comes into force, in respect of a claim made but not finally adjudicated before January 1, 2012.

Transition — length of cohabitation of common law spouses

6  Section 17 (11) (a) of the Workers Compensation Act, as amended by section 2 of this Act, applies in respect of the death of a worker that occurs on or after the date section 2 of this Act comes into force.

Transition — apprentice or learner

7  Section 33.2 of the Workers Compensation Act, as amended by section 3 of this Act, applies to an injury that occurs on or after January 1, 2012, the date section 3 of this Act comes into force.

Commencement

8 The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Workers Compensation Act, section 5.1]

• in respect of a claim for mental stress resulting from traumatic events in the workplace, removes the requirement that the mental stress be an acute reaction to an event;
• adds a provision to make mental stress resulting from a significant work-related stressor, or a cumulative series of significant work-related stressors, compensable under the Act.

SECTION 2: [Workers Compensation Act, section 17] reduces from 3 years to 2 years the period of cohabitation for which a common law spouse must have lived with a worker at the time of the worker's death in order to be entitled to receive compensation.

SECTION 3: [Workers Compensation Act, section 33.2] changes the rate at which an apprentice or learner is compensated for a temporary disability that continues after the initial payment period.

SECTION 4: [Workers Compensation Act, various provisions] adjusts the dollar amount of periodic payments of compensation required or penalties payable under those provisions of the Act listed in the table.

SECTION 5: [Transition — mental stress] provides that section 5.1 of the Workers Compensation Act, after its amendment by this Bill, applies to decisions made by the Board or the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal on or after January 1, 2012 in respect of claims submitted for mental stress before that date.

SECTION 6: [Transition — length of cohabitation of common law spouses] clarifies that section 17 (11) (a) of the Workers Compensation Act, after its amendment by this Bill, applies in respect of the death of a worker that occurs on or after the date section 2 of this Bill comes into force.

SECTION 7: [Transition — apprentice or learner] clarifies that section 33.2 of the Workers Compensation Act, after its amendment by this Bill, applies in respect of an injury that occurs on or after January 1, 2012.