45

 

 

Second Session, 45th General Assembly

54 Elizabeth II, 2005

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WORKPLACE HEALTH, SAFETY AND COMPENSATION ACT

Received and Read the First Time...................................................................................................

Second Reading.................................................................................................................................

Committee............................................................................................................................................

Third Reading.....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE PAUL SHELLEY

Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act to establish a procedure for the Workplace, Health, Safety and Compensation Commission to issue electronic worker's clearance certificates to persons authorized to request and receive them.  The amendments would come into force on April 1, 2006.

 

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WORKPLACE HEALTH, SAFETY AND COMPENSATION ACT

Analysis


        1.   Ss.18.1 & 18.2 Added
18.1 Electronic registry
18.2 Time of notification

        2.   Commencement


Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cW-11 as amended

        1. The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act is amended by adding immediately after section 18 the following:

Electronic registry

   18.1 (1) The commission shall establish an electronically accessible system to provide information respecting employers, and may determine the information respecting those employers, that may be provided.

             (2)  Notwithstanding section 18,

             (a)  legal counsel;

             (b)  an employer; and

             (c)  a member of the public,

may, as the commission may permit, request from the commission via electronic means information respecting the account status of an employer.

             (3)  The commission may charge a fee for the provision of information requested under subsection (2) and may establish different fees or forgo fees for different categories of persons requesting information under that subsection.

             (4)  A request under subsection (2) shall be accompanied by the information required by the commission to identify the transaction concerning which the request is being made.

             (5)  The commission shall, within one business day after receiving a request under subsection (2), confirm that receipt by issuing an electronic notice of confirmation to the person who made the request.

             (6)  Where a notice of confirmation has been issued with respect to a legal counsel request, the commission shall provide the requested account status not more than 21 days after the issuance of the notice of confirmation.

             (7)  Where the commission does not provide the account status in response to a legal counsel request within 21 days after the issuance of the notice of confirmation of that request and a transaction for which that request was made is completed

             (a)  after that 21 day period; but

             (b)  before the commission provides the account status,

assets included in that transaction shall be considered to be free and clear of a lien imposed under this Act and a security interest included in that transaction shall have priority over a lien imposed under this Act.

             (8)  An account status given by the commission in response to a legal counsel request under this section shall be valid only for 45 days after that account status has been provided to the person who made that legal counsel request.

             (9)  In this section and section 18.2

             (a)  "legal counsel request" means a request made by a legal counsel under paragraph (2)(a);

             (b)  "notice of confirmation" means a notice of confirmation issued under subsection (5); and

             (c)  "security interest” means an interest in property that secures payment or performance of an obligation.

Time of notification

   18.2 Electronic information given by the commission in response to a legal counsel request under section 18.1 shall be considered to be provided to the person who made that legal counsel request when it enters an information system outside the control of the commission.

Commencement

        2. This Act shall come into force on April 1, 2006.