Effective January 1, 2026, employers in British Columbia must use the updated Assessment Practice Directive 5-245-2(A) to determine the WorkSafe BC Assessable Payroll. The directive supports the interpretation of the Assessment Manual item AP5-245-2, which itself remains unchanged.
These changes are interpretive only and do not constitute a policy amendment.
- Tips and gratuities continue to be assessable earnings, but only where they are verifiable by the employer (e.g., tips or gratuities that can be substantiated through employer records).
- Paid wage-loss benefits reimbursed by WorkSafeBC are excluded from assessable payroll, including amounts initially paid by the employer and later reimbursed (see Appendix C — Box 77).
Employers should:
- Confirm that only employer-verifiable tips and gratuities are included in assessable payroll;
- Ensure WorkSafeBC wage-loss benefits that are reimbursed are properly excluded from assessable earnings;
- Ensure internal payroll systems reflect these clarifications; and
- Communicate the changes to payroll, HR, and finance teams to avoid reporting errors and potential reassessments.
For more details, refer to the Institute’s workers’ compensation assessable earnings chart.