Return to work


Preventing workplace injuries and illnesses is the responsibility of everyone in the workplace. When injuries and illness do occur, however, it is important for you and your employee to try to minimize the impacts by focusing on a return to safe and productive work as soon as it is medically possible.

Why early and safe return to work?

Most people who have a workplace injury or illness are able to return to some type of work even while they are still recovering, provided the work is medically suited to the injury or illness.

Returning to daily work and life activities can actually help an injured worker’s recovery and reduce the chance of long-term disability. In fact, worldwide research shows that the longer a worker is off work due to injury or illness, the less likely it is that he or she will ever return.

Both you and your employee benefit in cooperating in return to work. You benefit by minimizing the financial and human costs of an injury or illness, and your worker benefits by staying active and productive, which is important to the process of healing and recovery, and by restoring his or her source of income.

Shared responsibility for return to work

You, your employee and the WSIB all have certain roles, responsibilities, and obligations that support early and safe return to work.

In Ontario, returning an injured worker to work is a responsibility shared primarily between the the employer and the worker. The WSIB is responsible for managing the claim and monitoring, providing education and assistance to the worker and employer, and to the workplace. Health care providers are responsible for providing timely health or medical and functional abilities information in order to make timely decisions both on benefits and on return to work. Where there are shared responsibilities, communication and cooperation toward a common goal is essential.

Together, all parties working toward a shared goal of early and safe return to work and full productivity have the potential to reduce the human and economic impact of workplace injuries and illness.

This section will explain what the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act requires from you and your employee, and what you can expect from the WSIB.

What are my responsibilities?

What are my worker's responsibilities?

What are the WSIB's responsibilities?

What are the penalties for non-compliance?

Learn about Return to Work plans and see samples.

Functional Abilities Form

The Functional Abilities Form (FAF) for Planning Early and Safe Return to Work (370k, pdf) is a tool that provides you and the injured worker with a common frame of reference about the worker's physical condition. Find out more about the Functional Abilities Form and when to use it.

Construction regulation and policies

A regulation for the construction industry, and three WSIB policies created to support the re-employment provisions of the new regulation, took effect on September 1, 2008. The new regulation provides fairness and clarity for both construction employers and injured workers.

For copies of the regulation and policies, please see the Policy Updates page. For further details, please see the following documents:

Physical Demands Information Form (PDIF)

Use the Physical Demands Information Form to gather and document specific information about the physical demands of jobs.

The PDIF helps you identify potential risk factors for injuries in a job, and may also help you modify the job to reduce risk factors and/or accommodate an injured worker's restrictions so they can return to work.

Resources

  • The Canadian Abilities Foundation (CAF) provides links to a multitude of disability resources to help employers accommodate injured workers and help injured workers and their families cope with disability. Find help from CAF's Web site, abilities.ca.
  • The Canadian Helen Keller Centre is a resource for persons who are deaf-blind, their families, service providers, volunteers, supporters, and the general public about the needs, concerns and challenges of persons living with both vision and hearing loss.
  • http://www.ihpm.org/
    A resource for information and data related to better managing workplace health and productivity.
  • Guide and Tools for Modified Work (available for purchase)
    Developed by the Montreal Department of Public Health, this guide describes an approach to planning and setting up a modified work program for workers with certain musculoskeletal disorders. It is intended for mid- to large-sized companies and can also be useful to trainers and other professionals who work with companies on injury management and return to work programs.