The B.C. Workers Compensation Board鈥檚 (WCB or the Board) and annual reports contain no images of anyone injured.
This is consistent with how the Board currently administers claims.
The October, 2019 report to B.C.鈥檚 Minister of Labour, (at p. 35) observed three particularly influential changes within the last two decades:
- 2002鈥檚 organizational and legislative changes;
- 2005鈥檚 re-branding of the Board as 鈥淲orkSafeBC鈥� and changing focus and mandate; and
- 2008鈥檚 significant introduction of a computerized Case Management System (CMS) to its decision-making process.
BC鈥檚 Board is one of the only boards in Canada responsible for both compensation and workplace safety.
Its mandate shifted in 2005, away from compensation and toward a focus on safety.
However, as the , , and the Coroner鈥檚 verdicts after workplace fatalities ( and ) at Babine Forest Products in Burns Lake and Lakeland Mills in Prince George ( and ) confirm, workplace injuries have not disappeared.
They cannot simply be ignored away.
The Board is heavily focused upon returning people to work (RTW). This may be with little regard to the person鈥檚 condition, or whether healing or treatment must first occur.
The New Directions Report observed (at p. 52) that:
if RTW is simply used as a quick way to get injured workers off benefits, RTW efforts will have no credibility and will not be effective for most workers. Injured workers will correctly have no confidence in such a compensation system.
The New Directions Report discusses how the RTW focus is achieved on a daily basis through the RTW KPI (at p. 101-102):
The Board鈥檚 use of 鈥淩TW鈥� outcomes as one of its 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) affects,
or may appear to affect, the Board鈥檚 decision-making practices for plateau decisions.
The KPI for RTW defines 鈥溾�uccess is when an injured worker is able to return to work within
26 weeks鈥�, the return to work is voluntary (the worker does not object) and it is safe and
durable (with no subsequent inability to work for 30 days after return鈥︹�� As noted in the
the 26-week milestone for return to work is used as a key statistical measure
because the [Board鈥檚 statistical] Guidelines indicate that the majority of injuries show recovery within six months.
The 2020 KPI target is to improve this number from 81.2% (the 2018 result) to 83% in 2020. In
the case management system, the 鈥渄uration of disability鈥� is measured by the number of days
that a worker receives TWL. When the plateau decision effectively ends TWL, the claim owner
enters a 鈥淩TW event鈥�.
It is this measurement which underlies the KPI; there is no independent tracking or reporting of actual successful RTW outcomes or long term RTW outcomes (past 30 days) despite many requests for this to occur.
鈥ffectively the KPI is a measurement of the Board鈥檚 success at ending TWL on a statistical 鈥渘orm鈥� of recovery. Too many workers report being forced back to work 鈥渉urt鈥� for there to be confidence in this measurement is a meaningful measure.
Further, the Review heard from many Board sources that the KPI has, in effect, supported the use of the statistical 鈥渘orm鈥� for claims adjudication鈥�. front-line workers receive increased scrutiny from managers and senior leadership as TWL claims approached the RTW target dates in CMS and many expressed deep concern about the pressure that they received to issue 鈥減lateau鈥� decisions in serious cases as the worker鈥檚 claim reached CMS milestones. Claims which went beyond this date were intensely watched so as not to exceed 240 days (another target) and 鈥渒eeping the 240 bucket low鈥� was an explicit target in offices. 鈥�
Given this, I recommend that the Board discontinue the practice of using the RTW KPI as a measurement of Board performance. It creates practices and perceptions which are not consistent with a worker-centred approach and substantially undermines 鈥� the fairness and quality of RTW decisions鈥and] would also help change the service culture at the Board to one focused on realistic RTW successes. (p. 101-102)
So if you have been injured at work, chances are good that within 26 weeks, a decision will be made that you are to return to work, regardless of your condition. Chances are even better that this will occur within 240 days.
The New Directions Report was critical of other KPIs, too (at p. 54-55):
The 2018 KPI measurements were that 79% of injured workers reported a 鈥済ood or very good鈥� 鈥渙verall experience鈥� with the Board, 7% (56 workers) said they had a 鈥減oor or very poor鈥� experience and presumably, the remainder 14% reported an 鈥渁verage鈥� experience.
I have concerns about the use of this figure to measure 鈥渨orker satisfaction鈥濃��. as a KPI, the rating purports to measure worker satisfaction for purpose of assessing the Board鈥檚 delivery of compensation services to injured workers.
鈥� It explicitly dismisses 鈥渄issatisfaction鈥� as primarily due to 鈥渟our grapes鈥� and masks some serious service delivery issues. Issues which are not recognized, cannot be addressed. It is also inconsistent with the high level of complaints from injured workers, which prompted this Review. 鈥� A retired, long- term director of the Board wrote in his submission to the Review:
It is absolutely ludicrous to claim that 93% of workers and/or employers today are as satisfied as the current Board proudly boasts. I am reminded of a Disraeili quote (often attributed to Mark Twain) 鈥淭here are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics鈥�. I have met hundreds, if not thousands, of workers during my career and I seriously doubt that even 50% were reasonably satisfied鈥�.
鈥� this KPI engenders little confidence that the Board appreciates or is committed to improving service to injured workers. I recommend that it be discontinued.
The Board鈥檚 confirms that the Board continues to use these KPIs.
It is time to eliminate KPIs. The Board ought not to be using them to arbitrarily deny people who are injured at work their statutory entitlements.
Next week, more from the New Directions report.
In case you missed it?
About Susan Kootnekoff:
Susan Kootnekoff is the founder of Inspire Law, an Okanagan based-law practice. She has been practicing law since 1994, with brief stints away to begin raising children.
Susan has experience in many areas of law, but is most drawn to areas in which she can make a positive difference in people鈥檚 lives, including employment law.
She has been a member of the Law Society of Alberta since 1994 and a member of the Law Society of British Columbia since 2015. Susan grew up in Saskatchewan. Her parents were both entrepreneurs, and her father was also a union leader who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of workers. Before moving to B.C., Susan practiced law in both Calgary and Fort McMurray, Alta.
Living and practicing law in Fort McMurray made a lasting impression on Susan. It was in this isolated and unique community that her interest in employment law, and Canada鈥檚 oil sands industry, took hold. In 2013,
Susan moved to the Okanagan with her family, where she currently resides.
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