INTRODUCTION

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is the central labour organization in the province of Ontario.  The OFL has an affiliated union membership of over 700,000 members from all regions of the province with most unions in Ontario affiliated; our membership includes nearly every job category and occupation.  Acting as the central labour body, the OFL works in conjunction with the affiliated unions to develop and coordinate policies passed at convention and by our Executive Board.  One of the key roles of the OFL is to influence public policies that affect all working people, their families and communities.

The OFL and its affiliated unions appreciate the opportunity to address the issues outlined in the consultation documents regarding Early & Safe Return to Work (ESRTW) as we have raised these problems numerous times over the years.

OVERVIEW

Bill 162 introduced into Ontario an employer re-employment obligation that commenced in 1990.  The effects of the obligation took time to materialize and both workers and employers struggled to understand the very structured and time activated processes.

The re-employment obligation, in part, could be held responsible for the significant shift that occurred in the early to mid 90’s that brought much attention to the issue of the “duty to accommodate”.

Although the statutory obligation was somewhat weak and significantly time limited, it began a trend to focus on the employability of persons with disabilities.

Through Bill 99, a new set of obligations regarding ESRTW were implemented.  The original emphasis of Return To Work (RTW) in 1998 was the “self-reliance” of workplace parties.  The Board described its associated policies as being relatively broad and non-prescriptive that would assumedly allow the workplace parties to embrace their new and active role in RTW.  The workplace parties were expected to resolve differences and solve very difficult accommodation issues without very much assistance from the Board.  The Board in turn took on a very limited and passive role.

Without resources, without proper education, without appropriate incentives/dis-incentives, the strategy was doomed to struggle for any measure of success.

In 2001 a value for money audit of the WSIB’s ESRTW strategies highlighted the poor performance of RTW and reintegration practices in Ontario.  It also supported the many disgruntled workers and union advocates who were leading a movement towards RTW reform.