In previous articles, I have postulated that helping a worker return to work as quickly and safely as possible is one of the best ways for an employer to contain the cost of a workers’ compensation claim.

Workers and employers both have rights and duties with respect to return-to-work activities. Employers have a duty to offer suitable work when it is available, and workers have responsibilities to help identify suitable work, if requested, and to attempt suitable work if it is offered.

Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) requires employers to offer to re-employ workers following a workplace injury. This obligation lasts for a specified period of time and was put into place to protect workers from being terminated by their employers for any reason surrounding the injury or their claim for benefits.
 
This obligation is tied together with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s policies on early and safe return to work (ESRTW) and the employer’s duty to offer suitable and available work, where possible.