Document name

Assessable Labour Portion of Contracts

Document number

POL 07/2004

Principal means any person, association or body that hires a contractor. Principals are considered employers.

Contractor or subcontractor means a business or individual hired under a contract for service by another business or individual and can be present in all industries.

Contract means any work within the scope of the Act undertaken by a contractor or subcontractor for a principal.

1. Under Section 122 of The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 (the “Act”) and Regulation 4 of The Workers’ Compensation General Regulations, 1985 (the “General Regulations”), every employer in a mandatory or covered industry shall, register with the Workers’ Compensation Board (the WCB) by submitting a statement of payroll when starting operations and annually thereafter.
2. When a principal hires a contractor or subcontractor, the principal pays the contractor/subcontractor a negotiated contract amount for the work performed, which generally includes the contractor’s wages and overhead (equipment, materials, tools, etc.). Since compensation benefits are payable only on the actual wages, only the labour portion of the contract is considered as assessable earnings.
3. Where a principal or primary contractor hires a non-registered contractor or subcontractor, the Act states that the contractor or subcontractor is deemed to be a worker of the principal unless the contractor or subcontractor hired is assessed as an employer in their own right and is therefore individually liable for payment of WCB premiums.
4. Where the WCB considers contractors or subcontractors to be workers, the principal must report the total labour portion of the contract on their employer payroll statement. Where this does not occur, the WCB uses a schedule developed in consultation with industry representatives for determining the assessable labour portion of a contract. The labour percentage applied is based on the contractor or subcontractor’s trade or industry as outlined in the schedule.
5. Finally, the Act forbids an employer from deducting from the wages of a worker any sum that the employer is liable to pay to the WCB as premiums, except in cases where the contractor or subcontractor owns and operates equipment or hires another person to operate that equipment as stipulated in Section 8 of the Act.

1. A Saskatchewan principal who contracts for services with a contractor/subcontractor must report the total labour amount of the contract on their annual employer’s payroll statement.
2. Where the actual labour portion of the contract has not been provided, the labour amount of the total contract will be based on the applicable industry percentage as set out in the Assessment Schedule for Contract Labour attached to PRO 07/2004. If the industry is not listed in the Assessment Schedule, the labour percentage shall be calculated on the basis of the most similar industry in the Schedule.