The Workers’ Comp Is A Right (WCIAR) campaign has two new lobbying tools to end deeming and stop the cuts to legal aid. Deeming is when the WSIB pretends an injured worker has a job that they do not actually have, and cuts their benefits as a result. A recent report by the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG), Phantom Jobs and Empty Pockets, uses the statistical evidence to show how deeming creates poverty, with vulnerable workers ending up on social assistance, resulting in costs to taxpayers that total millions of dollars every month. NDP MPP Wayne Gates introduced legislation in May 2019 (Bill 119, Respecting Injured Workers Act (Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment), 2019) to stop the practice of deeming.
We need your help to get Bill 119 passed. We also need your help to reverse cuts to legal aid. Unless funding is restored, injured workers who are facing homelessness, have been forced onto social assistance, and are dealing with mental health crises, will be turned away from their last resort for help.
The Stop Deeming Lobby Kit has how-to tips on setting up a meeting with your MPP and the materials to take with you to get their support on these two actions. Included in the kit, but also available separately for download, is a Deeming Pledge form.
For queries on using these tools, please email workerscompisaright@gmail.com.