Poverty and the injured worker

Just released - Summary results from the 2010/2011 Injured Workers & Poverty Survey!
"I feel as if I am being punished over and over again for being hurt on the job..." This study helps to confirm the concerns that injured workers and their allies have raised for years: Many injured workers fall through the cracks of the system that is supposed to support them. [read more]

The financial effects of a work injury or disease on an injured worker and his/her family often compound the physical and psychological harm. The real value of compensation benefits has been eroded by successive legislation, policy and adjudication. And during an economic downturn, injured workers are among the most vulnerable as they clearly stated in a "Bright Lights Presentation to the WCB Chair" (Nov. 28, 2008). [read here]

The recent IWC submission (Aug. 2011) to the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario addresses key issues of income security and the injured worker.

These two charts below (based on data from the ONIWG 2009 Poverty Survey) show the harsh economic reality that all too often follows a work-related injury:

For more information on the economic and social impacts read the Key Findings and Full Report of the 2009 Survey, and check ongoing academic and participatory research, including the current projects of the Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Work Injury (RAACWI) projects.

In 2008 the Ontario Liberal government introduced a new Poverty Reduction Strategy. In response, injured worker groups, advocates and labour unions have rallied to remind the government how far injured workers have fallen behind, especially since the introduction of Bill 99. [CUPE News release, Dec. 11, 2008].

Bill 152: Poverty Reduction Act (S.O. 2009, c.10)
Submissions to the Standing Committee : Thunder Bay & - Thunder Bay & Injured Workers' Support Group ⁄ Injured Workers' Consultants

In June 2011 the Toronto Star reported on what progress is being made [read here]

Additional links: