Workers' Compensation & an Alleged Surplus at the WSIB

In early August, the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development concluded 26 days of consultation with employers on what employers want to see done with an alleged ‘surplus’ at the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB).

The purpose of the workers compensation system is to compensate workers that are injured or made ill through the course of their employment. It is a system that long ago required workers to give up their right to sue their employer in lieu of what is supposed to be fair and complete coverage to compensate for those illnesses and injuries.

But as a Union that represents more than 70,000 working people and that handles hundreds of injury claims and appeals every year, we know first hand that this system has been failing workers for a very long time.

That’s why it came as a surprise that suddenly the WSIB would find itself with all this extra money laying around. And it’s unfathomable, though not surprising, that the government would shrug its shoulders and ask employers what to do with the money.

If any surplus truly exists at the WSIB, it is because that money has been ripped out of the hands of injured workers, often leaving many of those workers in poverty.

Your Union, and other injured workers advocates like the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG), submitted our own recommendations to the Ministry of Labour to ensure that the voices of workers were a part of this consultation process whether the Ministry and employers like it or not.

In the Union’s submissions, it’s noted that the number of WSIB claims has risen since 2015. Despite this increase, the WSIB’s financial reporting has shown the benefits paid out to workers have been decreasing since 2010. Plus, these costs don’t address supports for work-related chronic mental stress, which was added to the legislation in 2016. Despite that addition, the WSIB has reported that only 6% of chronic mental stress claims have been allowed. The WSIB reports an average allowance rate of 78% for all other injuries. These claims are failing to be addressed by the system and should be considered again before deciding that the system is fully funded.

Your Union’s recommendations to the Ministry, including the rejection of the idea that there is a surplus at all, included:

• Meaningfully consult all stakeholders on the compensation system, including benefit coverage levels and how claims are processed;

• Increase Loss of Earnings benefits to 90% of net average earnings;

• Match the inflation rate applied to injured workers’ Loss of Earnings to the actual rate of the Consumer Price Index;

• Restore the Loss of Retirement Income Benefit ratio to a 10% contribution;

• Address Non-Economic Loss ratings and increase the base amount to be more in line with the needs of those with lifelong impairments;

• Provide greater coverage for mental stress injuries and in more workplace sectors.

You can read the Union’s full submission at bit.ly/UFCW175-WSIBSurplus.