OBA Workers' Compensation PROGRAM | Original Program Date: March 7, 2023

Many workers with occupational injuries are vulnerable, due to financial worries, or due to physical impairments or mental health issues. What does this mean for Representatives and Adjudicators in Ontario’s workers’ compensation system who encounter vulnerable workers? For worker advocates, challenges may include getting instructions from the client and responding to clients with mental health or even capacity issues. Employer advocates encounter vulnerable workers who are sometimes unrepresented – a situation where there may be an imbalance in power and knowledge. Adjudicators and other staff at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (“WSIAT”) also deal with vulnerable workers, who may be in crisis. This includes workers who may pose a threat of harm to themselves or others.  

In this session, worker and employer counsel, the WSIB and the WSIAT will review the challenges in supporting and responding to vulnerable workers, including:

• How to ensure that a vulnerable worker understands the issues in their case and what is needed to support a review or appeal
• As employer counsel, how to respond to vulnerable workers – whether represented or unrepresented
• How to best respond when there is a potential issue of capacity
• How to respond to situations where a worker may pose a threat of harm to themselves or others
• How can the representative support a worker facing a mental health crisis
• How are claims adjudicated when security precautions may be necessary

PROGRAM CHAIRS

Alec Farquhar, Lead, Engagement, Inclusive Design for Employment Access
Julia Noble, Associate Counsel to the Chair, WSIAT

PROGRAM SPEAKERS

Linda Gehrke, Vice-Chair, WSIAT
Eva Kolodziejski, Project Director, Return to Work Program, WSIB
Stephen Roberts, McTague Law Firm LLP
Maryth Yachnin, Research and Test Case Lawyer, Industrial Accident Victims' Group of Ontario (IAVGO)