Workers' Compensation Setup Guide (WCB / WSIB)

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We're all about making things easy – and when it comes to Payroll, the simpler, the better. The Workers' Compensation feature allows you to calculate your Workers' Compensation premiums in Humi automatically. We told you we'd make it easy!

How Does the Feature Work?

Humi can help you configure and comply with the Workers' Compensation Benefit (WCB) or Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) standards in your province or territory.

Simply set up the workers' compensation rates in Humi, assign employees to the applicable rates, and then run payroll as usual.

When it comes time to report on and pay your workers' compensation premiums to the applicable provincial body, you can run a Worker's Compensation Report to find your Total Workers' Comp Earnings, Total Workers' Comp Subject Earnings, Premium Calculation, and Excess Earnings.

Setting Up Workers' Compensation Mid-Year

It is essential to set up Workers' Compensation prior to running payroll so that Humi can calculate premiums when you click "Complete & Pay" on a Pay Run.

When your business Onboards with Humi, you complete your Workers' Compensation setup at your own pace, and when you're ready, you can click "Activate Workers' Compensation" in Payroll > Settings.

When you click "Activate," Humi will retroactively calculate Workers' Compensation premiums back to January 1st of the current year. This means your report will be accurate for the year you've set up, and there's no need to try to go back and adjust past payrolls.

New Year, New Rates

Most WCB/WSIB rates change every calendar year. Therefore, you'll need to add the new rate in Humi before running your first payroll with a cheque date in a new calendar year.

  • Please check your local government website for the most current rates in each province/territory.
  • To learn how to set up a new WCB/WSIB rate in Humi, click here.

 

How to Setup the Workers' Compensation Feature

The dropdowns below will walk you through setting up this handy feature.

Step One - Before opening Humi
  1. Gather a list of any employees who are exempt from Workers' Compensation coverage
    Humi cannot identify these individuals, so it will be your responsibility to identify them. If you are unsure if an employee is exempt, consult your legal team or the Workers' Compensation body in your province to determine which employees may be exempt.
  2. Gather your Workers' Compensation documentation. You will need to:
    • Identify all provinces in which your business has a workers' compensation obligation
    • For each province, identify all rates and rate classes your business is subject to 
    • For each province, identify which employees are covered under which rate in the province
  3. Review what earnings Humi considers Assessable in your province
    As part of the setup for this feature, we've defined every default earning type in Humi Payroll as either assessable (subject to workers' compensation premiums) or not assessable (not subject to workers' compensation premiums). Click here to view our handy chart.
    Humi will use the province selected to apply the maximum assessable earnings threshold set by the jurisdiction.
  4. Review any Custom Earnings or Benefits

    If you have set up custom earnings or benefits, please be aware of the following default settings:

    • If the benefit is set to be subject to Income Tax:
      Humi will define all custom benefits as assessable (subject to workers' compensation premiums) if the benefit is already set to be subject to Income Tax.

    • If the benefit is not set to be subject to Income Tax:

      All benefits not set to be subject to Income Tax will be defined as not assessable (not subject to workers' compensation premiums).

    Important Note

    If the default settings are incorrect for your specific custom earnings or benefits, you must email support@humi.ca before activating workers' compensation to let us know how to update your custom benefits.
Step Two - Open Humi and set up Workers' Comp

These steps are in the recommended order, but you can do them in whatever order suits you best.

  1. Mark all exempt employees as exempt

    1. In People, search for and select the exempt employee
    2. In their Employee Profile, head to the Job & Pay tab and scroll down to Taxes & Exemptions
    3. Find the setting titled Workers' Compensation Exempt and toggle it on, ensuring it's showing as the colour green
    4. Repeat this process for each exempt employee
  2. Create a Workers' Compensation rate for every rate & province combination your business is subject to and that you identified in "Step one - Before opening Humi"

    1. In Payroll, go to Workers' Comp and click on the + Workers' Comp Rate button in the top right
    2. Enter the Rate Name, Applicable year, Province, and Rate
      • The rate name is a free text field; you can name the rate whatever you choose and can edit this field later
      • The applicable year. This field is NOT editable later
      • The applicable province. This field is NOT editable later
      • The rate of assessable earnings for the relevant province. This field is NOT editable later
    3. When you're ready, click Create New Rate to save the rate in Humi

    How to enter your rates into Humi

    Humi requires the rate to be entered as a numeric value. For detailed instructions, see How to Create a Workers' Compensation Rate.
  3. Assign employees in Humi to the Workers' Compensation Rate they are subject to

    1. In Payroll, go to Workers' Comp and select the rate you'd like to assign employees to
    2. In the Employees assigned card, click Add/Remove Employees

      • Optional: You can use the Filter option to isolate employees in a single Department or Position. This may be helpful if all the employees in a particular department or position are covered under a single Workers' Compensation rate.

      For Terminated Employees

      If you have any employees who have been terminated that need to be added to this rate for retroactive calculations, you can find them using the Filter option by setting the Status filter to Terminated.

    3. Select the employees you'd like to assign to the rate and click the Add Employees Button
    4. The chosen employees will now be assigned to that Workers' Compensation Rate in Humi
    5. Repeat this process for any additional rates or employees until all assignments have been completed

Hiring New Employees

When a new employee is hired in Humi, they will need to be assigned to a rate manually. Follow the steps above to ensure they are added to the correct rate before their first pay cycle.

Step Three - Activate Workers' Compensation Feature in Humi

Important Note

It is strongly recommended that you review all steps taken above before you activate this feature. This is because once the feature is activated, Humi performs a retroactive calculation of Workers' Comp to January 1st. This calculation can't be undone.

If you discover an error at a later date caused by incorrect setup prior to activating the feature and need an adjustment, you may be charged the Year-to-Date (YTD) record adjustment fee to have the error corrected by our Support team.

  1. When you have reviewed your setup and are satisfied, head to Payroll and click on the Settings tab

  2. Click on "Activate Workers' Compensation"

  3. That's it! Humi will automatically run a retroactive Workers' Compensation calculation that you will be able to view in your Payroll Reports.

Payroll will be unavailable during the setup

It can take several minutes to complete the retroactive Workers' Comp calculation, and you will not be able to Run or Complete payroll while the retroactive calculation is running.

Step Four - Review your retroactive Worker's Compensation calculation
  1. In Reporting, head to Payroll
  2. Select the Workers' Compensation Report to review the results of your retroactive calculation

Did you make an error?

If you've made an error during the Workers' Compensation setup, please get in touch with our support team immediately for help at support@humi.ca.

If you discover an error at a later date caused by incorrect setup prior to activating the feature and need an adjustment, you may be charged the Year-to-Date (YTD) record adjustment fee to have the error corrected by our Support team.

That's it! You've completed your Workers' Compensation setup. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to support.

 

  Learn more about Payroll

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