Don’t let Company get Stuck Having to Pay a Contractors Workers Comp Premiums

A general contractor building a power station in NB hired a subcontractor to do some of the work. The subcontractor didn’t pay its workers’ compensation assessment for the year. The NB Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) apportioned 93.42% of the outstanding assessment to work the subcontractor had performed for the general contractor and sued the general contractor to collect this portion of the assessment. The court explained that both a contractor and subcontractor can be liable for the amount of any worker’s comp assessment related to the work done under the subcontract. And because the contractor didn’t get a clearance certificate from the Board showing that the subcontractor was in good standing, the court ordered it to pay $43,914 to the Board [Workers’ Compensation Board  v. Atcon Construction Inc.].