The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) has extended assessment payment deadlines until the summer for employers unable to make their payments because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Late payment interest charges are also suspended, the commission said in a news release on Wednesday.
Effective April 1 the new deadline is Aug. 1, 2020.
The payments comprise employers’ annual contributions to the Workers’ Protection Fund to cover work-related injury and illness costs. The amounts vary depending on the annual assessment base rate for employers subclass or industry and payroll estimates for the year.
“The purpose of these changes is to give extra time to employers to adjust their payroll estimates for 2020 and to make their payments later in the year without facing any penalties,” said Debbie Molloy, WSCC president and CEO.
Employers currently registered with the WSCC can switch to two equal installments paid in August and October 2020 of this year.
Renee Comeau, executive director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce, told NNSL Media the chamber supports the WSCC’s payment measures.
“It’s a good initiative to assist business in keeping business going in the short term,” she said.
The measures don’t apply to the GNWT and the Government of Nunavut which remain on a four-installment schedule.
“All employers with changes to their workforce as a result of Covid-19 are encouraged to look at their payroll and submit a revised estimate to the WSCC for their 2020 assessable payroll as soon as possible,” Molloy said.
“Estimated payroll includes payroll for workers, casual labourers, and any contractors you are covering for work taking place in the Northwest Territories and/or Nunavut in the current calendar year.”