Employer audits

Under Sections 127 and 128 of The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 (the Act), the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) has the right to inspect the books/records of any employer operating in Saskatchewan. This information remains confidential and will be used solely for the purpose of conducting an audit.

Employers may be selected for audits for one of the following reasons:

• They are part of an industry being reviewed.
• The firm is part of a random sample.
• The firm has a large refund owed on their account.

The Saskatchewan WCB audits employers to ensure that the assessable payroll and contractors have been reported correctly and that their industry code best reflects the firm’s activities.

Preparing for an audit

An auditor will contact the employer by phone or in writing to schedule an audit.

Generally, an auditor examines the payroll records and other documents for the three years prior to the current year.

For each year, the WCB requires the following information to complete an audit:

• T4 slip and T4 summaries for each year, and/or payroll summary reports, or payroll year end reports indicating gross wages for work completed in Saskatchewan.
• Contractor ledgers, T5018s and/or a list of contractors used in Saskatchewan, along with the amount paid and service provided or description of work.
• Working papers used to calculate payroll reported to the Saskatchewan WCB.

Contractors

The Saskatchewan WCB defines contractors as businesses or individuals hired to perform work but not carried on your payroll. Examples of common contract services include plumbing, electrical, snow removal, janitorial, landscaping, casual labour not reported on a T4 and consulting. Section 2 (1) (ii) of The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 defines contractors as workers and reporting of their labour is mandatory, even if clearances were obtained.

Learn more about the definition of a contractor and how to report them to the WCB.

Site visits

In some cases, we ask to take a tour of your facilities. This helps us ensure your firm is assigned the correct industry code.

Changing classification

Changing the classification of a business activity may involve changing an employer’s rate code from one to another, due to incorrect classification of a business activity. In most cases, if the rate code changes, the reclassification will mean a change in the premium rate as well.