Ontario laws improved to protect those injured, including families of deceased workers

The Ontario Government passed legislation on Dec. 10 that will provide more protection to injured workers in the province.

Among the changes to three separate acts, the legislation will, in the words of the government’s press release: “Prohibit employers from trying to prevent workers reporting workplace injury or illness to the WSIB by making it an offence to do so.“ (My italics.)

It’s hard to believe it was legal before to prevent a worker reporting an injury to the WSIB, but then nothing about the WSIB surprises me anymore.

Companies caught trying to beat the system, if convicted, face heavy fines from between $100,000 to $500,000 under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.

The legislation also amends two other, separate, provincial acts: the Fire Prevention and Protection Act and the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act.

Changes also came into effect on how WSIB will calculate the amount of benefits due to the surviving families of workers, after workplace fatalities.

Before this new legislation came in to place, survivors were paid the minimum legislated amount. The new calculations will be based on average earnings of the deceased worker’s occupation. This could potentially increase the financial support survivors will receive.

According to the province, WSIB already pays out around $2.5 billion in benefits a year.  Read more on the official government news website here.

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