Employee Compensation Act of Alberta: Case Study Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Employee Compensation Act of Alberta, focusing on its implications for workplace injuries and compensation. It begins by identifying the applicable legislation, highlighting key sections such as Section 24, which addresses employee eligibility for compensation in case of workplace accidents, and Section 25, which outlines compensation for time off due to injuries. The report also covers the responsibilities of both employers and employees in ensuring health and safety, including safety measures, training, and adherence to regulations. Furthermore, the report details the role of a human resource professional following an accident, including reporting procedures, medical bill settlement, and temporary employee replacement. It then outlines a program to facilitate an employee's return to work, emphasizing the identification of essential job functions, accommodation evaluations, and monitoring of the worker's progress. Finally, the report distinguishes between the direct and indirect costs associated with workplace accidents, providing examples of each. The report references relevant literature to support its findings.

Running head: EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ACT OF ALBERTA 1
Employee Compensation Act of Alberta
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ACT OF ALBERTA 2
Employee Compensation Act of Alberta
The legislative act that will apply to this case is the employee compensation act. The
employee compensation act was created to help employees who have sustained injuries at
work to be able to return to work (Animashaun & Odeku, 2014). The act makes this possible
by providing the guidelines for the creation of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB). In
summary, the section 24 of this act provides that every employee who sustains injuries by
accident at the place of work is eligible for compensation unless there is enough evidence that
the employee sustained an injury due to willful misconduct (Barnetson, 2015). For example,
in the retail company in the case study provided, the employee sustained injuries by accident
which makes him eligible for compensation. Section 25 of this act provides that if the injuries
sustained by the worker disable the employee throughout the day, the employer should pay
compensation to the worker amounting to half of his dues for that day. Section 32 of this act
provides that if the worker sustains injuries as a result of an accident at work, the worker is
expected to immediately give notice of the accident to the employer and the Board if the
injury is likely to disable the worker more than one day.
At the workplace, both the employee and the employer have a role to play in ensuring
health and safety. In the retail company in the case study provided the employer will take
responsibility of;
 Putting safety measures in place to ensure the safety of all the employees working in
the retail company.
 Training new employees on health and safety procedures in the organization. This
also involves assessing all the risks and addressing them (Barnetson, 2015).
 Informing the employees working in the retail company about the risks in the
workplace
Regarding the employees working in the retail company, they have a duty to;

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ACT OF ALBERTA 3
 Follow the rules and regulations provided to ensure their safety.
 Cooperate with the employer on matters related to health and safety, for example,
during health and safety training.
 Avoid misusing equipment’s provided for their health and safety in the organization.
As the human resource professional, I have major role to play following accident
occurrence in the organization. After the occurrence of the accident, the first thing I will do is
to;
 Write and submit a report of injury caused by the accident to the relevant bodies
within 72 hours after the accident occurrence as required by the law (Chrisman,
Devaraj & Patel, 2017).
 Consult with the management to ensure that the medical bills of those injured
employees are settled and also the employees continue receiving their salary.
 Consult with the management of the company to hire subcontractors to replace the
injured employees temporarily.
After recovering from the injuries sustained at work, a program should be set to facilitate
the employee’s return to work. For this to happen I recommend that;
 A worker should be contacted directly with the aim of helping him to complete the
worker’s compensation claim that will see the medical bills covered.
 Essential job functions that the worker must be able to perform with or without
accommodation in consultation with the employee’s physician be identified.
 The activities that the worker is restricted from doing based on the physician
assessment be determined.
 The evaluation of the accommodation, for example, a stand work station that is
necessary for the worker to use when he returns to work be done.

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ACT OF ALBERTA 4
 The right accommodation that is necessary for the worker based on the evaluation
above be chosen and an offer made for the worker to return to work.
 The worker’s progress at work be monitored and necessary support be offered to the
worker.
 Specific employees be assigned the responsibility of carrying out the above duties.
The direct costs of an accident refer to those costs that are covered by the insurance of the
employee. For example, indemnity payments, medical and program cost.
 The medical cost will cover both the hospital, physician and the pharmacy bills of the
employee.
 The indemnity payments include the compensation for the disability as a result of an
injury that the employee sustained.
 The program cost involves the administrative expenses of the claims.
On the other hand, the indirect costs refer to the costs that are not as a result of direct
damage expenses. For example,
 The vehicle or building damages that have been caused by an accident.
 The accident investigation costs is another indirect cost.
 The third indirect cost is the cost of supplying emergency equipment’s to deal with
the accident.

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION ACT OF ALBERTA 5
Reference
Animashaun, O., & Odeku, K. O. (2014). Industrial accident and safety hazards at the
workplace: A spatio-physical workplace approach. Mediterranean Journal of Social
Sciences, 5(20), 2949.
Barnetson, B. (2015). “Fortis Et Liber” Unless You Are a Farm Worker: Workers’
Compensation Exceptionalism in Alberta, Canada. SAGE Open, 5(2),
2158244015575632.
Chrisman, J. J., Devaraj, S., & Patel, P. C. (2017). The impact of incentive compensation on
labor productivity in family and nonfamily firms. Family Business Review, 30(2),
119-136.