Orlando Buonastella and Kathrin Furniss from Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic were among those making presentations today at public hearings before the Standing Committee on Social Policy on Bill 27 (Working for Workers Act, 2021) . Specifically, they spoke to the Committee on concerns regarding Schedule 6 amendments to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act on the distribution of ‘surplus’ funds to employers.
Their presentation and written submission focus on the following:
- the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) ‘surplus’ funding position was reached by eliminating the unfunded liability on the backs of injured workers
- restitution to injured workers should be incorporated into the formula for determining whether the Board is in a surplus position. Before distribution to employers is considered, there must first be an assessment of outstanding obligations and inadequacies of the system, with surplus distribution provisions prioritizing programs and services for the benefit of injured workers
- as drafted, the bill gives the WSIB to power to judge who is a ‘good’ employer. Given the insufficiency of WSIB audits to detect claims suppression, the bill could end up rewarding employers who engage in under-reporting or have unsafe workplaces.
The submission proposes a number of legislative amendments to address their recommendations. [Read full submission : pdf | html ]
A number of other clinics and injured worker advocates and organizations have also prepared submissions for the Standing Committee. The Committee transcripts of oral presentations will be available shortly at https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/committees/documents/parliament-42 (click on Social Policy).
See also Tebasum Durrani’s recent article in Jacobin on how and why this proposed amendment, effectively transferring billions of dollars from workers to bosses, is a significant blow to injured workers across the province.