TOWARDS A BETTER SYSTEM: An urgent call to action to improve WCB appeals

The following submission was made by the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour to Douglas Reid, the independent chair of the comprehensive review of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals System (WCAS).

The WCB Appeals System is a fundamental safeguard for workers’ rights. When the Workers’ Compensation Board makes a decision that affects income, health care, or return to work, there must be a fair and effective mechanism for workers to challenge that decision. Workers rely on the appeals system to correct errors and ensure decisions are consistent with the law, the evidence, and the principles of justice that underlie workers’ compensation.

Workers expect a system that delivers fairness, accountability, and justice for those injured or killed on the job. To achieve this, the appeals system must be clear and consistent, timely, and non-adversarial.

The timing of this review is important. Workers are concerned with the timeliness and clarity of WCB decisions and appeals, and increasingly we feel the Board is struggling to understand its mandate.

The WCB is born from the 1913 Royal Commission that was tasked with creating a fair and balanced workers’ compensation system in Canada.  The Meredith Commission resulted in the “historic compromise” that remains at the heart of Canada’s workers’ compensation systems today. Workers gave up the right to sue for workplace injuries or illnesses. Employers agreed to fund a no‑fault independently administered compensation system for injured workers.

Workers’ Compensation is a quasi-judicial system.  It stands in the place of courts to protect Worker’s rights.  WCB decides whether workers’ claims are accepted and what benefits workers receive.  WCB decisions have profound impacts on workers’ lives. 

Workers are counting on the review to make recommendations that better align WCB with its role as a fair and just arbiter for the working people of Nova Scotia.