Bill 277: Workers' Compensation Act (amended)

This bill primarily affects Nova Scotia employers in any industry where workplace violence is a recognized risk — think retail, healthcare, security, social services, construction, or any setting with public-facing staff. If you run a business and there's a credible risk of violence on the job, you now face potential civil lawsuits from injured workers if you failed to put reasonable safety measures in place, even though workers' compensation normally blocks such claims. Larger employers with formalized health and safety programs may be better positioned to demonstrate they took protective steps, but solo operators or small teams with informal safety practices could be more exposed. Day-to-day, this means employers need to actively document hazard assessments and violence-prevention policies, since failing to act on a foreseeable risk is now a legal liability.