Meeting Held with WCB Representatives

Discussion centred on Re-employment Obligation in new regulations.

On December 4, the MFL compensation committee and guests met with Dave Scott, Vice President Rehabilitation and Compensation Services with the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) to hear a presentation on the obligation that comes into effect on January 1, 2007. The WCB provided everyone with copies of the new legislation, policies and brochures. The 20 MFL members present noted that many of the concerns that were raised in the consultations have been addressed in the new policy.

The issue of application to seasonal workers and workplaces that have a fluctuating workforce has been specifically addressed in the policy. In essence, if there is a dispute the WCB will take an average of full and part time workers in the previous 12 months as the number of workers regularly employed. If it is a seasonal operation, the WCB will take an average of workers in each of the months that make up the regular season as the number of workers regularly employed.

During the discussion, the advocates, practitioners and union leadership who attended the meeting explained in detail the issues that have created the most problems for injured workers and offered solutions that have not been addressed by the policy. Noting that there are many successful programs that ensure a return to work in a timely manner, there are certain conditions that create further injuries, unsafe conditions and/or cause the return to work to fail.

The biggest of these issues is the assignment of other duties during the work shift. The policy notes that the WCB will compare the worker's compensable medical restrictions and capabilities to the essential duties and demands of the work. This is the same goal that all those involved, the worker, the doctor, the claims manager, the employer and the union strive to ensure a good fit.

When the worker is on the job site, the line supervisor has not been made aware of the match between the restrictions and capabilities and gives them work outside the restrictions. It was suggested that the WCB ensure a detailed return to work written plan be given to all line supervisors and the worker to ensure no further injury results.

Most of the problems in a timely return were attributed to the lack of communication with the health care professionals involved in the healing of the worker. The worker's own doctor has been left out of the loop in some cases and the worker has been waiting for them to give the 'all clear' that the duties are appropriate. In the past, the WCB medical staff have not contacted the worker's doctor to discuss restrictions and modifications and this has resulted in delays for a proper placement. When these communication issues arise a protocol needs to be adopted to ensure that timely and safe returns are not delayed.

The final issue discussed at the meeting on December 4 was how the dispute resolution mechanism will deal with various scenarios. After going through the different sections dealing with layoffs, termination, offers and refusals it was noted that workers are required to notify the WCB of a dispute. If a worker is placed in an alternate job and after a few days is transferred to a different department or laid off entirely, they must immediately contact their case manager at the WCB and report the details. The case manager will then use their expertise to facilitate a resolution to the dispute.

The presentation concluded with an outline of the resources available to implement a successful return to work program in a workplace. All programs need to be tailored to the specific workplace. The guidelines not only provide basic elements, but also a program evaluation.

Other guides offer small businesses an easy to implement safety program and guides for common injuries such as the Small Business Ergonomic Case Studies for prevention of musculoskeletal injuries. A PDF copy of this 95-page booklet is available for download here (2.5 mb - Acrobat Reader or similar required).

Later in December, the WCB will meet with the MFL Health and Safety committee to go through their strategies for returning workers to health and safe work as well as preventing further injuries.