feature LEANNA KRAUSE
An Expert Professional on Workers’ Compensation Issues
compensation system and the administrative tribunal process without our services. For me, this provides a sense of personal satisfaction for the work I do as an Adviser.
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The Adviser position is also unique and a great alternative to private practice because it provides lawyers with the opportunity to still engage in the practice of law and become experts in the workers’ compensation system and representing individuals before administrative tribunals. However, you can do so, without the worry of billable hours and the administrative details that go into running a law practice.
he Workers’ Advisers Office (“WAO”) is a branch of the Ministry of Labour. There are seven regional offices around the province, including Richmond, Victoria, Campbell River, Prince George and Kelowna. Workers’ Advisers (“Advisers”) are the core service providers at WAO and, as an Adviser, you have a statutory mandate to provide advice and assistance to injured workers on the Workers Compensation Act, its Regulations, Policies and Guidelines. While an Adviser provides advice and assistance on workers’ compensation issues, the WAO is independent of WorkSafeBC. There is a huge demand for our services and, on a daily basis, Advisers manage a large number of complex time-sensitive files. One of the main duties of Advisers is to provide workers with advice on the evidence they need in order to challenge a decision from WorkSafeBC in the administrative tribunals under the workers’ compensation system. If an Adviser thinks that the workers’ review or appeal has merit or, in other words, a reasonable chance of a successful outcome on the review or appeal, then the Adviser will represent the worker on that review or appeal before the administrative tribunal. Among other tasks, this would involve preparing the written submissions for the worker and/or representing them at an oral hearing.
Advisers also assist workers with WorkSafeBC claims where the worker alleges that their employer retaliated against them for raising a health and safety issue at work. As part of this process, an Adviser will often represent workers at mediations in an effort to try and obtain an early resolution to the dispute and to try and avoid the lengthy adjudication and appeal processes. An Adviser provides invaluable services to a vulnerable population of society. These individuals often would not be able to navigate the workers’
For more information on the WAO, please visit: bit.ly/bt0420p7-1. Leanna Krause graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2011 and has worked with the Workers’ Advisers Office since 2016.
WorkSafeBC Appeals & C P P D IS A B IL IT Y A P P EA LS
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APRIL 2020 / BARTALK
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