During the COVID Pandemic, effective March 17 to December 31,2020, all regular COR audits were restricted to documentation-only, and the use of interview and observation techniques were suspended.

Documentation-only recertification audits conducted by certified external auditors were restricted to one-year CORs certification.

Though CCSA previously raised this issue in March, during the August Certifying Partner (CP) and Partnerships meeting concerns once again emerged with the original COVID plan:
• Some employers have raised concerned about the cost of two consecutive external audits (in 2020 and then again in 2021) under the original plan.
• Continuation of the original plan will essentially double the number of recertification audits that must be conducted in 2021 and create a potential bottleneck in the audit system.

Therefore, Partnerships has made two new decisions to help employers who have completed a full three-year audit cycle (2017-2019) and now must recertify in 2020.

This is intended for COR holders that have completed a full three-year COR audit cycle

Decision One
Employers are eligible for a three-year COR for a documentation-only recertification audit conducted by a certified external auditor
• This option is retroactive back to March 17 and in-effect until December 31, 2020.
• Employers who previously received a one-year COR in this circumstance will be automatically upgraded by their CP to a three-year COR.

Note certified external auditor includes: consultant auditors and CP staff auditors (as allowed in 2020 during COVID)

Decision Two
Employers are eligible for a one-year COR for a documentation-only recertification audit conducted by their own certified internal auditor.
• This option will be in-effect from August 10 to December 31, 2020
• If employers choose this option, they are required to recertify in the regular three-year COR program using an external auditor in 2021.

Both decisions will be eligible for 2020 PIR refunds from WCB.

For 2021, the COR program plans to shift back to full three-technique COR audits (documentation, interview and observation). The Government of Alberta and Certifying Partners will be developing guidelines for employers and auditors for safe auditing.

Reminders
All audits need to be registered with the CCSA. Not registered yet? You can do it here today. CCSA highly recommends that you plan at least two months in advance of the planned audit start date to ensure accuracy of the audit process.

Should you have any questions, please contact us at COR@ab-ccsa.ca.

Please stay safe and take care