Case Brief: On Workers’ Compensation For Federal Government Employees

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld an Alberta Court of Appeal decision addressing the principles of compensation application to federal government employees covered inMartin v. Alberta (Workers' Compensation Board), 2014 SCC 25.

The Alberta Court had restored a workers' compensation Appeals Commission decision that had assessed and denied the compensation claim of a Parks Canada warden by reference to the entitlement criteria set out in an Alberta WCB policy. The Court of Appeal held that the warden's claim for psychological/psychiatric injury was properly dealt with on the basis of the Alberta policy.

The Supreme Court agreed, holding that provincial law and policy determined the entitlement to and rate of compensation for an employee governed by the federal Government Employees Compensation Act, except where they were in conflict with the GECA. This created a system that was efficient and consistent system and ensured that federal and other workers within a province were generally compensated at the same rates and under the same conditions. The Commission's decision to reject the warden's claim was reasonable and was upheld.

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