Friday, August 16, 2019

WSIB Special Report: CLAC Participates in WSIB Review

In May, the province announced that it would be undertaking a thorough review of the workplace insurance system. CLAC had a chance to meet with people overseeing the review. In July, CLAC also submitted a formal written submission in which it presented 12 recommendations for the reviewers’ consideration.

Critics have noted that from 2010 to 2015, WSIB reduced its prescription drug costs by 30 percent and that during the same period, acceptance rate for permanent injury claims was reduced by the same proportion. They allege that injured workers have borne the cost of WSIB getting its financial house in order, and that the premium reduction offered to employers in 2019 was short-sighted.

In preparation for CLAC’s submission to the province’s 2019 WSIB review, we drew on the experience of CLAC members, and also on the unique and expert insights of CLAC’s WSIB coordinator, David Robins. David has been specializing in WSIB appeals for CLAC members for nearly 20 years. His experience in helping members navigate through WSIB allowed us to point to particular pinch points in the system that all amount to unreasonable and significant delay in the processing of claims.

In addition to insights about how to improve expediency of appeals, CLAC has also called for the expansion of the system to include workers in residential care facilities. Many of CLAC’s members work in retirement homes, which are a class of employer that is not legally obligated to provide WSIB coverage. It is our strong opinion that the private insurer alternatives that those employers use are inadequate, and leave workers unnecessarily exposed to a loss of earnings in the event of workplace injury. We have called on successive governments to fix this problem, and were glad for the chance that this submission offered to reiterate that call.

CLAC has also asked the reviewers to consider making it mandatory that all unions provide representation for injured workers. Nonunion workers can seek support from the Office of the Worker Advisor, but this service is not available to workers who are members of a union. While CLAC does provide expert support and legal representation for members who’ve experienced a workplace injury, that is not the case with all unions. In too many cases, injured workers who are unionized do not receive adequate representation from their union, which should be a legal duty.

CLAC’s submission and recommendations can be found on Your Voice (clac.ca/yourvoice) under the Policy Briefs section (“Delays, Inconsistencies Create Stress for Injured Workers”).

WSIB Special Report: CLAC Participates in WSIB Review

You might be interested in