Return to Work / Retraining for Employers

In November 2010 the WSIB announced new Operational Policies to compel employers to return injured workers to their former place of employment.

These policies apply to all injured workers no matter what their year of accident, or status in their Labour Market Re entry Program Work Transition Plan. If an Employer fails to follow the WSIB Policies, the WSIB can levy a penalty. See the WSIB’s Operational Policies for more information.

Our Law Firm has specialized in the management of Return to Work obligations for 40 years. We can help you come to the most expedient resolution. Return to Work meetings are quasi judicial proceedings, where determinations are made with many thousands of dollars of potential liability at stake

    Fink & Bornstein Defends You Against OHSA and WSIA Prosecutions

    Do you know that employers and workers can be charged with quasi criminal offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA)?

    Do you know that the penalty for breaking the OHSA can involve a fine of up to $25,000.00 per count for individuals, plus a twelve month jail term, or a fine of $500,000.00 for Corporations?

    Do you know that the penalty for breaking the WSIA can involved a fine or up to $25,000.00 per count for individuals, and a six month jail term or a fine of $100,000.00 for Corporations?

    Do you know that employers and workers can be prosecuted under the Criminal Code for workplace activities causing injuries to others?

    How can Fink & Bornstein Professional Corporation protect you from such prosecutions?

    1. We can advise you on your obligations under the WSIA and OHSA.
    2. We can proactively review your Company’s operations and procedures, to ensure compliance with OHSA and WSIA.
    3. We can advise you on how to deal with a WSIB Audit of your operations that might lead to a prosecution.
    4. We can advise you on how to respond to a Ministry of Labour inspection or investigation.
    5. We can defend you in Court, if you are charged with violating the WSIA, OSHA, or Criminal Code for workplace related matters.

    How can Fink & Bornstein Professional Corporation
    protect you from such prosecutions?

    1. If an Employer does not take the injured worker back to work, when the WSIB states that the Worker is ready to come back to work (in some full or limited capacity), the Employer is subject to a fine equal to one year of benefits plus the full cost of retraining the worker which includes: schooling, monitoring, transportation, etc.. These fines could easily exceed $50,000.00 per event.
    2. Once the Employer is told that they have not met the WSIB’s obligations, they have 7 days to remedy the breech.
    3. Small businesses can ask the WSIB for assistance with the costs of accommodation. In other words, the WSIB can give Small Employers grants to help them accommodate Injured Workers. Small Employers are generally businesses that have 1 to 20 employees, but can also go up to 50 employees in some circumstances.
    4. Any pre-existing disabilities that an injured worker has have to be considered by the Employer.
    5. The WSIB can provide all Employers with assistance, by paying the injured worker while he undergoes training on the job, for a specific period of time.
    6. There is no end to an Employer’s obligation to return injured workers to work. In other words, the obligation can be imposed years after the injury. An Employer has to notify the WSIB of any problems during the return to work process. An Employer cannot provide an Injured Worker with work that is simply suitable to the injury. The work must be “sustainable”. Sustainable means that if the Worker were to apply for a similar job in the General Labour Market, he/she could possibly get such a job. The Employer’s obligations to provide accommodation to the worker include those obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Act.
    7. The Ontario Human Rights Act indicates that Employer must make changes to the workplace, up to the point of the Employer’s bankruptcy. The only defense to this is work that is “not productive”. For instance, one does not have to have one painter painting the top of a wall, and another painter painting the bottom of the wall, in order to accommodate a Worker who cannot carry a paint brush above shoulder level.
    8. Therefore as one can see, the WSIB Policies provide: 1, Opportunities for small Employers, by obtaining grants and training on the job, subsidization from the WSIB; and 2, Severe penalties from larger Employer, who effectively now must have all Injured Workers returned to their labour force.