Policy
Where a worker’s death results from a work-related injury/disease and the deceased worker is survived by a spouse and no children, the surviving spouse is entitled to
- a lump sum payment, and
- periodic (monthly) payments equal to a percentage of the deceased worker's net average earnings (NAE) at the time of the injury.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline how the WSIB determines the lump sum payment and periodic payments for a surviving spouse with no children.
Guidelines
Lump sum payment
The amount of the lump sum payment is initially set at a base of $80,673.30. The WSIB then
- adds $2,016.83 for each year the spouse is under age 40 at the time of the worker's death, or
- subtracts $2,016.83 for each year the spouse is over age 40 at the time of the worker's death.
The maximum lump sum payable is $121,009.87 and the minimum is $40,336.60.
The amounts used to calculate the lump sum payment are indexed each year, see 18-01-14, Annual Indexing. The amounts above are for 2017, see 18-01-02, Benefit Dollar Amounts - Accidents from 1998 for the amounts as indexed each year from 1998 onward.
Example
43 year old spouse at the time of the worker's death
(base amount) - (incremental amount x # years over 40) = lump sum payment
($80,673.30) - ($2,016.83 x 3) = $74,622.81
Periodic payments
The amount of a spouse's periodic payments is initially set at 40 per cent of the deceased worker's NAE. The WSIB then
- adds 1 per cent of the NAE for each year the spouse is over age 40 at the time of the worker's death (to a maximum of 60 percent), or
- subtracts 1 per cent of the NAE for each year the spouse is under age 40 at the time of the worker's death (to a minimum of 20 per cent).
NOTE
The deceased worker's earnings are subject to the statutory maximum and minimum, see 18-02-07, Calculating Net Average Earnings.
If the deceased worker's NAE are less than the statutory minimum they are deemed to be the minimum. The statutory minimum is indexed annually.
For information about when and how Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) benefits impact periodic payments, see 20-03-03, Calculating CPP/QPP Offsets from Survivors' Benefits.
Example
NAE of $2,000 per month
43 year old spouse at the time of the worker's death
(40% x NAE) + (1% NAE x # years over 40) = periodic payment
($800.00) + ($20.00 x 3) = $860.00 per month
Annual indexing
On January 1 every year, the WSIB indexes ongoing periodic payments by the indexing factor, see 18-01-14, Annual Indexing for more information about annual indexing.
Application date
This policy applies to all decisions made for entitlement periods on or after January 1, 2018 if the injury or disease that resulted in the worker's death occurred on or after March 9, 2005.
The guidelines for annual indexing apply to all decisions made for entitlement periods on or after January 1, 2018 if the injury or disease that resulted in the worker’s death occurred on or after January 1, 1998.
Document History
This document replaces 20-03-04 dated April 6, 2009.
This document was previously published as:
20-03-04 dated October 12, 2004
20-03-04 dated March 23, 2000
20-03-04 dated June 15, 1999
13.7 dated January 1, 1998.
References
Legislative Authority
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, as amended
Sections 2(1), 48(2), (3), (24), 49, 51, 52
Minute
Administrative
#20, November 15, 2017, Page 545