Articles 2019

The Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups has challenged income deeming practices of Canadian workers' compensation boards in a submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

A significant recent decision of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal concludes that the WSIB's Fatal Claims Premium Adjustment Policy does not violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A Court of Appeal decision has clarified the mens rea of the offence of failing to report a material change in connection with benefit entitlement under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

A recent decision of the Divisional Court affirmed that justice must not only be done at administrative agencies, but must also be seen to be done.

A recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada sheds new light on how to consider employers’ duty to accommodate when dealing with an injured worker. In Quebec (Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail) v. Caron, 2018 SCC 3, the Court unanimously decided that “the duty to reasonably accommodate disabled employees is a fundamental tenet of Canadian and, more particularly, Quebec labour law. ”

The Divisional Court granted an employer's application for judicial review of a WSIAT decision. The Divisional Court also provided the employer with declaratory relief, and ordered that the WSIAT decision be quashed.

This insightful article highlights the deference the courts give to decisions of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT), noting that review of a decision will be on the "organic whole, without a line-by-line treasure hunt for error." As an added bonus, the article also provides a reminder that remote work locations create exceptions for what will be considered "reasonably incidental to employment".