Reduce your Workers' Compensation burden with PRIME

PRIME (Prevention and Return-to-Work Insurance Management for Employers/Employees) is an incentive program that allows employers in Newfoundland and Labrador to save money on workers’ compensation assessments, providing they meet criteria in two categories: practice and experience. But what does that actually mean?

Practice Incentive Component 

This component recognises and rewards employers who have good occupational health & safety and return-to-work practices with a 5% refund on their average calculated base assessments. The specific requirements an employer must meet depend on the size of their organisation or workplace. 

Your Employer Category is decided by how many workers are at each workplace, and how much the organization pays to the Commission in average base assessments. 

Experience Incentive Component 

This component compares an employer’s PRIME claim costs to their expected range of injury costs (called an Experience Incentive Range). Claim costs are payments made by WorkplaceNL, such as salary replacement, health care costs and fatality costs, when an employee makes a claim due to a workplace injury.

Keeping your claim costs down – by reducing injuries and getting employees back to work quickly and safely after an injury – will help minimize your assessment rates.  

PRIME Toolbox

To help businesses comply and have a greater chance of receiving their PRIME refund, WorkplaceNL has created a PRIME Toolbox. The Toolbox provides templates that are used during the PRIME audit process that determines a business’s eligibility, and also fact sheets that can help you set up your Occupational Health & Safety program (if required).

How to apply for PRIME

To be considered for a PRIME refund, you will need to complete the relevant section of the Employer Payroll Statement, and submit the Occupational Health and Safety Statement and Employer Contractor Statement (if applicable), by February 28 of each year. If you don’t submit these documents before February 28, then you will not qualify for a PRIME refund – however, you will still have to pay the experience charge, if applicable. 

CFIB members can get more information by contacting our Business Counsellors at 1-888-234-2232 or by e-mail at msnl@cfib.ca