WSIB - Ontario Nurses' Association

may include having an ergonomic assessment done of the school environment.Some accommodations that have been made for workers have included purchasingtwo sets of books, so the worker does not have to carry books back and forth,having an ergonomically-designed desk and chair, having a writer to take notes ifthe injury is related to the hands/arms, speech recognition software, etc.We also routinely recommend you try to include in the plan that it will be revisitedif future events preclude the original activities from unfolding as planned, i.e.,sometimes the recommended educational course may be discontinued based onclass size. We also recommend you try to get in to the plan six to 12 months ofLOE benefits after any retraining is completed, to provide for LOE benefits whileyou conduct a job search and seek sustainable employment. We also recommendyou write on the plan, “this is without prejudice to my right to appeal the plan,”before you sign it.You should, at all times, stress you are prepared to cooperateSome workers and their doctors may feel the training and/or deemed job are somedically unsuitable, even if accommodated, it might result in harm to the worker’shealth and safety. The worker then must weigh the health risks versus thefinancial, employment and discontinuation of LOE benefits risks. As we havesaid, the WTP and deemed SO can be appealed; there is never a guarantee of successon appeal, and the worker may have no money coming in while the appealis in process if they chose not to cooperate while appealing. It is usually best fora worker who is not satisfied with the plan to continue to cooperate, but appealin the meanwhile. That way the worker’s benefits cannot be discontinued, i.e.cooperate in meetings, in particular until a deemed SO and future LOE benefitshave been determined.Re-employment obligationsWorkers may also meet the criteria and fall under the “two year from date ofinjury re-employment” employer obligations under the WSIA. These provisionsdo not guarantee a worker will return to the pre-accident employer, but if an employerdoes not try to accommodate the worker when a job is available, the employercould be fined.Whenever possible, it is in the worker’s best interest to return to the accident employer,i.e. due to: loss of seniority; loss of LTD benefits (most future LTD plansdo not allow for a pre-existing condition); loss of other benefits, such as extendedhealth care plans; level of STD sick time benefits; no guarantees the worker willget a job in the deemed SO; usually only one WTP; the worker develops a noncompensablecondition and cannot continue with the plan, and therefore LOEbenefits are discontinued.37