In Quebec, employers have the right to request cost sharing under section 326 of the AIAOD if they believe they are unfairly burdened as a result of an employment injury and they have a defined time period in which to make their request.

The operation of the cost-sharing application under section 326 of the AIAOD

Employers may apply for cost sharing under Section 326 AIAOD to request that a percentage of the costs be charged to the employers’ account in its unit and not to its employer record

Illustration

Let’s assume that a worker who suffered a lumbar sprain while at work has gradually resumed his or her activities on temporary assignment and is again placed on leave by his or her attending physician for a condition other than the lumbar sprain, such as an illness, an injury of a personal nature, a traffic accident, etc.

The employer may request that the amounts paid for the worker’s income replacement indemnity (IRI) not be charged to his employer’s file under section 326 of the AIAOD from the date of the new work stoppage because, had it not been for the intercurrent personal condition, the worker would have been paid by the employer with no impact on his employer’s file at the CNESST.

Time limits for employers to apply for cost sharing

Section 326 of the AIAOD states that an employer making a claim under the second paragraph must do so by way of a written statement of reasons in support of the claim within one year of the date of the accident.

However, after the Supervac 2000 case, the Court of Appeal encouraged the Labour Administrative Tribunal (LAT) to be flexible in the admissibility of claims by holding that the one-year time limit provided for in section 326 of the LATMP is not a strict time limit and can only be enforced on the day the exception arises.

Returning to our illustration of the worker with a lumbar sprain who returned to work on temporary assignment, but has since been placed on leave for a personal condition. The employer will have one year to apply for cost sharing under section 326 of the AIAOD from the date of the new work stoppage, not from the date of the work injury.

At RH Fleming, we can handle your CNESST files.