“The WSIB’s austerity agenda: deporting injured migrant workers” / Samantha Ponting (RankAndFile.ca, Dec. 16, 2015)
The second of a two-part series on how the WSIB has failed in its duty to injured workers focuses on the plight of Ontario’s migrant workers who are injured on the job. While eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, “systemic barriers are preventing them from receiving adequate medical attention for workplace injuries. In many cases, injured migrant workers are repatriated before receiving healthcare treatment for their injuries ….” Included in this discussion of the many issues confronting migrant workers, the article describes how deeming works against migrant workers; their vulnerability to claims suppression; the Board’s policy of providing only 12 weeks benefits if the worker is deported, even after serious or permanent injury; difficulties in filing a complaint through the Ontario Human Rights Commission.