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WORKPLACENL ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT 2018
Report on Performance: 2018 Objectives and Indicators Strategic Issue 1: Financial Sustainability Goal 1: By December 31, 2019, WorkplaceNL will have ensured long-term financial sustainability by achieving a funded ratio between 100 and 120 per cent. Objective: By December 31, 2018, WorkplaceNL will have completed a review of the effectiveness of the PRIME program to identify recommendations to strengthen prevention and return-to-work programs within workplaces.
The goal of the PRIME program is to promote healthy and safe workplaces; promote effective and sustainable return-to-work (RTW) practices; respond to an individual employer’s actions while maintaining the principle of collective liability; and, provide employers more control over their annual insurance costs. Through financial incentives or charges, PRIME recognizes employer claim costs as well as compliance with certain health and safety and RTW practices. The program has two components: 1. practice incentive - provides a refund to qualifying employers that meet requirements for health and safety, and RTW practices; and 2. experience incentive - applies refunds, charges, or neither, depending on how the employer’s actual claims cost experience compares with the experience incentive range established for that employer. Employers must qualify for the practice refund in order to receive an experience refund. In 2018, WorkplaceNL completed a review of the effectiveness of the PRIME program and identified recommendations to strengthen prevention and RTW programs within workplaces. The review consisted of analysis of data related to injury rates, claim costs and claim timelines; a jurisdictional review of comparable programs across Canadian workers’ compensation boards; and consultation with stakeholder groups. In advance of the consultations, WorkplaceNL distributed a discussion document to stakeholders to explain the program, outline the purpose of the review and highlight the program’s performance as it related to injury rates, program costs, refunds and charges.
