COIDA Late/Non Registration

[Michelle Blount]

Hi All
I have taken over Accounting and HR functions for a business that has been operating since 2009. They have never registered for COIDA - if I register them now, how far back will I have to go with submitting historical returns to get them compliant?

Regards
Michelle

[Johan99]

Michelle,

The Act states that an employer should register from the date that the first employee was appointed. In practice we see that employers register in the current cycle - say from 1 March 2021 if they would do the registration now. This is especially true if there were no reportable accidents from the date of commencing business.

A valid Letter of Good Standing would proof to any DOL inspector that the business is compliant, so if they register with effective date 1 March 2021, submit a return of earnings and pay the assessment, a Letter of Good Standing would be issued. You would expect a question or two if a company that was formed say in 2018 register now, but we have never seen this being raised before. Companies could of course be dormant after registration and only commence trading at a later stage.