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Ontario|Workers CompensationEmployers 646 Responsibilities if an injury occurs Under the law, an employer has several responsibilities after a work-related injury or disease occurs. These include first aid, transportation to a health care facility, if necessary, reporting the accident to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, continuing regular employee benefits for up to one year while the worker is absent, and returning the worker to the same or a similar job when the worker is able to return to pre-injury employment and to a suitable position if the worker is not able to return to pre-injury employment. The employer is also required to pay the worker their regular daily rate for the day of an accident.
- Employer responsibility to report accident or disease
The employer must report accidents to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board if an employee has to obtain health care for a work-related injury or disease, or if an employee has to take time off work and cannot earn regular wages because of the injury or disease. The employer is required to complete a special form called an Employer's Report of Injury or Illness (Form 7) within 3 days of learning about the worker's condition. The form must be received by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board within 7 business days or an employer may face penalties of up to $250.
- Employer responsibility to continue making contributions to employment benefits
If the worker is away due to a work-related injury or disease, the employer is required to continue making contributions to regular employment benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, and pensions for at least one year. If an employee usually contributes to any of these benefits, they will be required to continue contributing while away from work, or the employer will not be obligated to provide the benefit.
- Employer responsibility to return injured worker to their job
Under the law, employers are required to reinstate a worker after they have recovered, unless the employer regularly employs less than 20 people, or if the worker has not worked continuously for at least one year before taking the time-off. If the worker's job is unavailable, the employer is required to give them a job that is comparable in responsibility and pay. If the worker cannot perform the essential duties of the worker's job, then the employer is required to offer them the first vacant position that is suitable to their skills and physical ability. Worker re-employment and re-instatement rights last for two years from the day of the injury or one year from the date the worker is able to return to pre-injury employment, whichever comes first. If a worker turns 65, the employer is no longer obligated to re-employ the worker.
- When an employer has to return an injured worker to their job
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board will decide when the worker is ready to return to work. Workers and employers must co-operate with each other in the effort to return the injured worker to work as soon as is safely possible. If an employer gives a partially disabled worker suitable work and cannot accommodate the worker to perform the essential duties of the worker's pre-injury job, and then a job comes up that is more similar to the worker's original position, the employer must offer this job to the worker. Or, if the worker's condition improves while she or he is employed in another job, and the worker becomes able to return to pre-injury employment, the employer must offer the worker their original position or one that is comparable.
Under the Human Rights Code and under the compensation legislation, if a worker returns to work with a disability, an employer is required to accommodate the worker by helping the worker perform the essential duties of the job the worker is seeking to perform. Employees must co-operate in the return to work effort.
- Penalties for not returning an injured worker to their job
If an employer does not comply with the return to work obligations of the legislation, penalties will be levied by the Board. If an employer terminates an injured worker within six month's from their returning to work, the employer must prove that the termination was not because of the injury or the compensation claim.
For more information on an employer's and an employee's responsibilities after a work-related injury or disease arises, you can contact a lawyer or call the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. This office is listed in the Blue pages of your telephone book.
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