100 years ago Meredith introduced Ontario’s public no-fault, non-adversarial workers’ compensation system. Today injured workers call on the WSIB/WCB and the government to respect the basic principles and “historic compromise” , under which they gave up the right to sue employers in exchange for fair and timely compensation. When policies are driven by “look to deny” cost-cutting rather than legal principles, and “medicalized” decision-making blames age or pre-existing conditions rather than the impact of a work-related cause, our system seems increasingly to be run on the private insurance model – far from Meredith’s call for “full justice, no half-measures”.
In this section, find overviews, background and further reading on current issues of concern:
- Appeals (wait times, downside risk and new oral hearing procedures…)
- Benefits (new policies, including pre-existing conditions, “usual healing times”; deeming & the lock-in; cost of living adjustments; clothing allowance)
- Experience rating (an incentive to improve health & safety or to practice claims suppression?)
- Funding (myth of a financial crisis; benefit cuts and the “unfunded liability”?)
- Mental health (adding harm to injury – effects of chronic pain, dealing with the Board and workplace; social, family & financial stresses and isolation…)
- Poverty (failing the injured worker; welfareisation & downloading costs to social assistance)
- Return to work (time to heal & avoiding re-injury; precarious work and barriers to successful re-employment)
- Stigma & surveillance (social and institutional prejudice; aggressive spying hinders recovery)
- Universal coverage (extending benefits to all & spreading the costs)