Workers

You are owed a retroactive adjustment payment if you received any of the following benefits between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022:

• Wage-loss benefits, including temporary earnings loss (TEL) and extended earnings loss(EEL) – while off work or participating in a return-to-work or labour market re-entry plan
• Retirement benefits, excluding pension replacement benefits (PRB)
• Dependency benefits

An adjustment is not required for any benefits paid in 2023.

An adjustment is not required for pension replacement benefits (PRB), travel reimbursements or lump-sum permanent functional impairment payments paid between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022.

We have calculated how much you were paid between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 versus how much you should have been paid, and are now issuing the adjustment payment to make up for the difference (or the amount we owe you).

As an estimate, most people will receive about $2.00 for each week they received benefits, plus interest – some will receive more and some less. The amount depends on what your weekly benefit was, how long your claim was open, if you had offsets (such as CPP disability), if you claim tax credits other than the basic personal amount and other factors.

Simple interest will be applied from thirty days following the date that the benefit was paid up to the date the adjustment is paid. The rate is 2 per cent for July 1, 2016 to December 31, 2022 and 3 per cent from January 1, 2023 to present.

In June 2023, we started issuing payments in batches. Adjustments for temporary earnings loss (TEL) and extended earnings loss (EEL) will be issued first, followed by dependency and retirement benefits. The last batch is expected to be issued by the end of October.

We appreciate your patience as we process these payments. If you were expecting a payment and have not received it by the end of October, please email us at info@workplacenl.ca.

Most people will receive a cheque by mail. If you are currently receiving benefit payments from WorkplaceNL, you will receive the payment the same way you usually do, by direct deposit or cheque.

Be sure to deposit a cheque within six months of its date, or it will be stale-dated and financial institutions are not obligated to accept it. Contact us to arrange a new payment if you have a stale-dated cheque.

After your payment has been issued, you can view your total payment on your cheque stub or letter we send you. If you receive a cheque you may not receive a letter, the total amount will be noted on your cheque stub.

We may include adjustments for temporary earnings loss (TEL) and extended earnings loss (EEL) benefits in one payment. The adjustment for dependency benefits and retirement benefits will be paid later as separate payments.

No, the adjustment does not impact other benefits or payments you received from WorkplaceNL, such as travel reimbursements, permanent functional impairment lump-sum payments and health care expenses.

This adjustment is calculated based on benefits already paid, therefore is not open to a review.

If you have moved since receiving your last benefit payment, please update your address online using MyWorkplaceNL.

This will help us issue your payment when we have finished calculating the adjustments.

If you had more than one claim open between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022, an adjustment applies to all claims in that period that received the benefits noted above.

If you have a balance owing to WorkplaceNL, we will deduct the amount we owe you from the balance you owe us.

There is no adjustment for 2023. The adjustment is for certain benefits paid between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 only.

No, you will not have to re-file taxes for previous years. The amount you receive will be included on the T5007 slips issued for the 2023 taxation year.

Our condolences for your loss. If your family member has passed since their last benefit payment from WorkplaceNL, please contact us at info@workplacenl.ca or 1.709.778.1000.

Our claims payment system was not updated when the non-refundable provincial tax credit changed from 7.7 to 8.7 per cent on July 1, 2016 – therefore we used an incorrect amount to determine a probable deduction from your gross earnings when calculating your wage-loss benefits.

We apologize for the error, and thank you for your patience while we process adjustments back to July 1, 2016.

We are not changing any PRIME charges or refunds you have already received.

The retroactive payments to workers will not impact your current or future PRIME experience results nor show as claims costs on your monthly reports.

There is no expected impact to current or future assessment rates