A proposed Ontario bill could strip away a key protection for people who sustained long-term injuries at work, some advocates warn.
Bill 105 would remove a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) rule that provides injured workers a fixed amount of benefits for loss of earnings after six years. Workers are then entitled to that same benefit until age 65, typically without their claim being re-challenged or reassessed.
Removing this rule, known as a “lock-in,” could mean ongoing scrutiny for injured workers and make it harder for them to plan for the future, some unions and advocacy groups say.
“It will open up a lot more appeals, adjudication, fights and surveillance,” said Kathrin Furniss, a lawyer at the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic in Toronto.
Under the current system, the lock-in is not a permanent guarantee. The WSIB can still review benefits if a worker fails to report a significant change in their circumstances, such as if an injury worsens or improves, or if the worker has a change in income, according to the Office of the Worker Adviser, which is an independent agency of the Ministry of Labour.
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Still, for workers, being locked into benefits provides a “real finality… and they can start to move on with their lives,” said Sean Staddon, the WSIB worker representative for United Steelworkers Local 6500, the union representing workers in the mining sector in Sudbury.
“There aren’t the weekly calls from (WSIB) case managers or from the workplace asking if they’re getting better,” he said.
Furniss said she knows workers who have been able to qualify for mortgages because they have stable, locked-in benefits.
Some advocates said workers may also face mental health issues because of uncertainty over their benefits and ongoing oversight from the WSIB and their employers.
“Workers are going to be always under this conception that someone’s watching them, that they’re in a constant state of probation,” said Carmine Tiano, director of occupational services at the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, an umbrella group representing construction unions across the province.
CBC News spoke with two Toronto Police Services officers who say removing the lock-in would be particularly harmful to people on leave because of mental stress injuries.
One officer has received WSIB benefits for five years after going on leave with PTSD. CBC News is protecting his identity because he fears reprisal for speaking out.
Removing the lock-in would keep him in a “perpetual purgatory of being poked and prodded,” he said.
He said the past five years have already made recovery difficult, as WSIB reviews and employer appeals require him to repeatedly revisit traumatic experiences.
“What is the end point? How many times am I going to have to re-justify myself to the WSIB, to specialty clinics, to the Toronto police, to the appeal board, and then go through it again and then again?” he said.
Bill 105 has been ordered to have its third and final reading. The Ontario Legislature is currently on a break and will return on Oct. 27.
The Ministry of Labour said in an emailed statement that it is engaging with stakeholders, including unions, injured workers and employers as it considers changes to the WSIB.
CBC News asked the province why it’s considering removing the lock-in, but did not receive a response to that question.
Bill 105 also includes some expansions to WSIB coverage. Among them, it would bump up WSIB benefits from 85 per cent to 90 per cent of a worker’s pre-injury earnings, up to a maximum insurable earnings ceiling of $121,700. The bill also would allow some workers to claim benefits past age 65.
Furniss says those changes are needed, but not at the cost of losing the lock-in.
“I think the bill was trying to give with one hand but take away the other,” she said.
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She said removing the lock-in would primarily affect workers who are permanently injured or disabled, who may be unable to return to work after six years.
In its current form, Bill 105 wouldn’t apply retroactively to workers already locked in, Furniss said. CBC News reached out to the province to confirm that, but didn’t receive a response.
But Michelle Zare, a Hamilton-based paralegal who represents many first responders with mental stress injuries, said there is uncertainty about what the bill could mean for workers already locked in.
She said she’s heard from workers in “complete panic, because they thought it was over and they thought they could move on.”
Another TPS officer, who has been locked into his benefits for several years, said he feels immense stress at the prospect of his claim being reopened. CBC News is protecting his identity because he fears reprisal for speaking out.
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After going on leave with PTSD, being locked into his benefits was a starting point for his recovery. Prior to being locked in, he said he almost lost his house and struggled to navigate various assessments and appeals processes that worsened his condition.
“It’s one really good foundation that you can start to build your recovery on,’ he said. “You don’t have to worry about losing your house, the stress.”
He said he’s concerned other officers won’t have the opportunity to recover if the bill passes.
“You can’t pull the rug out from people that are already struggling,” he said.
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CBC News reached out to the Toronto Police Association for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
The Police Association of Ontario said in a statement it is concerned about the proposed removal of the lock-in, but has engaged in “constructive conversations” with the province about the bill.
Spokesperson Kiki Cloutier said the association is “confident that our members’ perspectives will be reflected as this work moves forward when the legislature resumes this fall.”
