- Board Directives and Guidelines (earnings basis) (recalculation)
- Earnings basis (learner)
- Earnings basis (student)
- Loss of earnings {LOE} (wage loss) (student)
The worker, a student, had commenced an unpaid welding co-operative (co-op) and began a placement with the placement company on May 22, 2018. The worker appealed a decision of the ARO, which concluded that the initial pre-injury net average earnings was appropriately calculated and it would not be adjusted until the completion of the alternate training program in 2024. The issues under appeal were: a) the calculation of the initial pre-injury average earnings basis; and, b) the worker's entitlement to a recalculation of her average earnings.
The appeal was allowed, in part. The Vice-Chair found that the worker's initial pre-injury average earnings were appropriately based on the Ontario minimum wage of $14.00 per hour plus the worker's concurrent part-time earnings. At the time of the accident, the worker was a student participating in an unpaid co-op program for welding through the Ministry of Education. OPM Document No. 18-02-08 provides that if the worker was not receiving any income as a pupil/learner on the date of accident, the average earnings "are determined using the minimum wage in Ontario." The Board also used the worker's concurrent part-time earnings to calculate her average earnings, which is consistent with OPM Document No. 18-02-08 and clause 3 of section 16(4). The ARO had determined that the worker's average earnings would not be adjusted (re-calculated) until the completion of the alternative training program in 2024. At which time, the worker's average earnings would be based on the earnings of someone employed in the same field as the learner's pre-injury training program (welder). The Vice-Chair found, however, that the worker's average earnings were to be re-calculated at the point in time when the worker would have completed her training program for a welder. This finding was consistent with OPM Document No. 18-02-08 and O. Reg. 175/98. The Vice-Chair found that section 16(5)(b) of O. Reg. 175/98 was applicable to the worker. This section states that, if the compensable injury prevents the worker from completing the training program or probationary work, the average earnings are recalculated "when the worker would have completed the training program or probationary work if the injury had not occurred." As stated in Decision No. 1096/18, the purpose of the recalculation is to "capture the additional loss of earning capacity flowing from the inability to gain the additional educational qualifications."