Worker Responsibilities
under Bill 99 |
Report the accident, to your supervisor, union rep, first aid department, co-workers.
Sign the employer Form 7
Seek medical attention, if necessary
Co-operate with your employer
Co-operate with the board
Co-operate with medical practitioners
Be aware, Be cool, Don’t assume anything
Additional Positive Things To Do
- Fill out Form 6, (Workers report of injury / disease)
- Double check all forms, make sure you have completed thoroughly, use a pen with black ink, (it shows up better on photocopies)
- Notify your Union
- Notify your Early & Safe Return To Work committee, (ESRTW)
- Get in touch with your local Injured Workers’ Group
- Record and document everything
- Make photo-copies
- Seek and gain knowledge
Duty to Co-operate
- Bill 99 states you must co-operate in Health Care Measures, as the wsib considers appropriate.
- It is possible that the board could order you to take certain drugs or submit to a medical procedure, which goes against your doctor’s advice because it is the least expensive avenue.
- Consult with your Doctor as soon as possible after getting this kind of notification, remember you must co-operate or you may be cut off or have your benefits reduced. Be able to back up with documentation from appropriate sources your reasons for not co-operating if you make this choice.
- Bill 99 states that you must submit to a medical examination initiated by the board or your employer. In the case of the employer requesting the medical examination, your employer would have to pay all costs. You may appeal the board’s decision to force you to take your employer’s medical examination.
- Bill 99 states that you must co-operate in early-return-to-work, (RTW), if it is safe. If you consider the RTW inappropriate or unsafe you can appeal to the board. The board will attempt to mediate the dispute. Remember again you may be considered uncooperative and have your benefits reduced or suspended as punishment.............Be Aware, Be Cool, Gain Knowledge
- You must give your employer a copy of the Form 6. In most cases the board will mail you a Form 6 to be completed after you have made a claim for benefits by signing the Form 7, (employers report of injury / disease), or the physician’s report, (Form 8). You can make application for benefits by completing the Form 6.
You must report a material change in circumstance within 10 days of notification.
Any change which affects your entitlement to benefits and services under the Act. This could mean changes in medical, earnings and work status as well as changes in availability for return-to-work programs.
Consult with your Union, The OWA, (Office of the Worker Advisor), The Local Injured Workers Support & Information Group, as this issue quite often needs to be further clarified.
- You must participate in Labor Market Re-entry, (LMR)
- In place of vocational rehabilitation we now have the Labor Market Re-entry assessment and plan, (LMRA, LMRP). At the completion of the plan, the board no longer has responsibility for you and will deem your wage loss. The board will no longer attempt to return you to employment which pays comparable earnings to what you earned before being injured. Instead the board will only be concerned about identifying Suitable Employment or Business, (SEB) for the purpose of deeming post injury earnings.
Early & Safe Return to Work (ESRTW)
- You must co-operate with your employer’s return-to-work program unless there is a negotiated RTW program is in place. However, there are no standards to govern the quality of a RTW program. Many Injured Workers will and are being forced back to work in a punitive RTW program or have their benefits reduced or suspended.
- You are suppose to contact your employer "as soon as possible" after the injury.
- What is the definition of as soon as possible? Will you have to contact your employer if you're in the hospital following your injury?
- The safest practice is to make every reasonable attempt to contact your employer. Have someone do it for you if you are unable to do it yourself.
- Document your efforts if you are unsuccessful in contacting your employer.
- Leave messages, tell someone you’ve tried.
- The Workplace Parties (WPP) shall identify modified work that is suitable and available, is within your functional ability and restored your earnings where possible.
- Some employers have made an honest attempt in their RTW programs, usually through some form of joint committee. Unfortunately the majority of employers have no plans and no intention of offering modified or suitable work. Their intent is to force you back to work only to increase their experience rating kickbacks from the board.
- Bill 99 is structured so that employers do not have to meet any standards for their RTW programs. What is happening is that in too many cases the RTW plan is nothing but harassment and the use of intimidation tactics.
- Your employer or the wsib may request a Functional Abilities Information Form (FAF)
- Upon request, your health care professional must complete the FAF and forward it to your employer and to the board.
- The act penalizes employers who use the information on the form for any purpose other than facilitating an ESRTW.
- Physician is obligated to provide information only on the prescribed form (FAF) about the worker.
Bill 99 obligates physicians to provide FAF information on the prescribed board approved form.
Many employers have their own forms which they believe suit their needs better than the prescribed form. However, many of these employers ask for information that is none of their business and not related to your accident or disease. Only use the board approved FAF.
Your physician is obligated to complete only the prescribed form and no other.
The board will only become involved in the ESRTW if either party disputes the co-operation required by the act. Mediation services shall be implemented, if no resolution is reached, then the board will determine which party is not co-operating and penalize one or both parties.
You can be forced to submit to a health examination paid for by your employer or the board. This means that your employer can force you be examined by physicians that are on your employers payroll. You can appeal this decision.
Labour Market Re-Entry (LMR)
- An LMR assessment will be provides if your employer is unlikely to provide suitable work, or unwilling to co-operate in the provision of suitable work.
- Remember that your employers obligation to re-employ still exists in section 41 of bill 99
(see attached) and the duty to accommodate continues to be upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
- The board shall identify your Suitable Employment or Business (SEB) considering the following information:
a) Degree of impairment and prognosis
b) Functional abilities
c) Transferable skills
d) Aptitudes
e) Amount of Loss of Earnings (LOE)
- When the SEB is decided, the board will determine what it believes you should be able to earn in the occupation identified. Jobs do not have to be available in the designated field for your wages to be deemed.
An LMR plan will be offered only if additional skills are required to reach the SEB, (Suitable Employment or Business).
The cost of the LMR plan will be compared to the cost of paying you benefits and it will be based on these financial issues not based on something you want to do or have an interest in, that will decide your future and determiner the LMR plan.
You must co-operate in the LMR assessment and plan or have your benefits suspended or reduced.
No job search is included in the LMR plan.
When the LMR plan is completed, the board considers you equal to other workers’ in the designated field and considers unemployment a market condition. Just like the day you woke up and decided this is the day my life changes forever.
Under the old act, you were granted up to 6 months of benefits while looking for employment.
Although unemployment among people with disabilities is about 40%, the board will not provide benefits while you attempt to find a job.
