Discontinuation of Vocational Rehabilitation Services

Three to five participants who became employed while receiving WCB vocational rehabilitation services found that their jobs did not last long. Some were laid off due to lack of work. Others experienced pain or other injury-related medical problems that prevented them from performing their job duties. Most had been provided with several job placements, but their requests for additional assistance were eventually declined.

One study participant who had over ten years experience as a skilled industrial worker sustained an injury that prevented her from resuming that occupation. After being off work for several years, a WCB Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant arranged for several unpaid work experience placements in various customer service positions. None led to paid employment, but she was subsequently assisted in obtaining paid employment in a different occupation and industry. She described being relatively satisfied there, but was laid off several months later when the employer had a lack of work. Her request for additional vocational rehabilitation services was denied.

“I went back to Compensation, told them what happened, and asked for my Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant to help me find another job. But they said ‘no, that’s it’. They won’t help me anymore. So now I’m on my own.”

Relocation

Three to five participants outside Winnipeg reported having IWRP’s which provided for deeming if they were not employed by the conclusion date of the plan. Some of them reported that the jobs they will be deemed capable of obtaining are not readily available in their communities. They cannot, therefore, realistically obtain these positions without moving to Winnipeg. Three to five reported that the WCB had offered to pay the cost to move their families to Winnipeg, but most declined. More than half of these participants reported that they declined because their spouses had secure employment in their rural communities, and the jobs the claimants and their VRC’s felt they could obtain in Winnipeg paid low wages that would not replace their spouses’ incomes.

“My husband isn’t going to leave [town] and I’m not going to leave him after [over 25 years] of marriage to move to Winnipeg to [perform low wage job].”

Other participants outside Winnipeg felt that relocating to Winnipeg was not in their and/or their families’ best interests because they had school-age children, housing and other costs are higher in Winnipeg, and/or they had lived in their rural communities for many years.

“In the condition I’m in, I don’t think it [relocating to Winnipeg] would be any advantage. Here—where people know you—they understand where you’re coming from, there’s a little more tolerance. I don’t think I’d get that in the city.”

One rural participant who declined the WCB’s relocation offer reported that he was subsequently told that it would be realistic to commute to Winnipeg to do the low wage job he will eventually being deemed at. This participant lived 200-300 kilometers from Winnipeg, and felt commuting was unrealistic.

Two rural participants reported that the jobs they will be deemed capable of performing are available in their communities, but pay lower wages than similar jobs in Winnipeg. They felt, however, that the wages specified in their IWRP’s—the amounts they will be deemed capable of earning—are based on Winnipeg wages, not the wages paid by employers in their communities.

Two other rural participants reported that the WCB wanted them to relocate to Winnipeg for re-training.

“They wanted me to move to Winnipeg. Well, the cost of living in Winnipeg is a lot higher than it is here. I’ve got a house here. My family’s here. My kids are still going to school. But they figured I should move to Winnipeg for training. They kind of corner you. They make you absolutely deny that you’ll move to Winnipeg. They’ll say ‘are you refusing to relocate to Winnipeg to participate?’”

Injured Workers with Low Pre-Injury Earnings

Three to five participants—including high wage earners—noted the inequities in vocational rehabilitation assistance available to claimants whose pre-injury wages were low.

“I was a high wage earner, so they have to find me something where I’m going to be earning a comparable wage. But what happens to a young guy who’s just starting off at minimum wage?”

“When I meet other WCB claimants, they can’t believe I have a [more than three] year plan. They say ‘we just get a year or two. How did you get [more than three]?’ The only thing I can think of is ‘how much money were you making when you got hurt?’ What I get out of it, it [vocational goal] has to be somewhat similar to the wage you were earning previous to your injury. So they have to get something that would enable me to make that kind of money again. If I was only making $20,000 a year, they probably wouldn’t be paying me all this money to go to school.”

Two participants with relatively mild disabilities (PPI awards of approximately 10 per cent) and high pre-injury wages were receiving wage loss, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits and services they felt were likely to cost well over $100,000. Three to five participants with more severe disabilities and higher PPI awards—but low pre-injury wages—were receiving less extensive VR services.

Two participants asked the WCB to finance various fitness activities to address problems related to their workplace injuries (e.g. stress, declining physical fitness). One had a comparatively mild disability, but was earning a high wage at the time of his injury. The other had a more severe disability, but was a low wage earner. The claimant with the milder disability and higher pre-injury wage had his request granted. The claimant with the more severe disability and lower pre-injury wage had his request denied.

Injured Workers Outside Winnipeg

All WCB Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants and Employment Specialists are based in Winnipeg, but some travel to provide vocational rehabilitation and employment services to claimants outside of Winnipeg. Approximately half of non-Winnipeg participants were satisfied with the frequency and nature of the contact they had with their VRC’s. The other half were disappointed with the vocational rehabilitation services they received.

One participant’s spouse commented that injured workers outside of Winnipeg don’t have the same access to WCB staff opinions and advice when negotiating return to work arrangements with their employers.

“In Winnipeg, you have the [WCB] office there. Here, they don’t come up…Well, they do come up, but they’re not going to be able to come up every time you set a meeting up [with employer].”

Two who were disappointed reported that they had received minimal assistance from WCB VRC’s, but had been told that the WCB would provide training and/or wage subsidies if the participants found employers willing to hire them.

“They don’t believe it’s their job. They want me to come up with ideas. But I said ‘I’ve already come up with all the ideas I can think of.’”

Interestingly, the majority of the study participants who had managed to become re-employed lived outside of Winnipeg. Three to five had returned to work with their pre-injury employers, while two were working for other employers in their communities. Two were involved in modified work programs they felt were unsatisfactory, but more than half of the participants outside Winnipeg who had become re-employed were relatively satisfied with their duties and wages, and had successfully taken on new responsibilities or were enrolled in training to qualify for promotions.

Two of these participants reported that the Workers Compensation Board subsidized their wages for an initial period of employment.

Injured Workers with Severe Disabilities

Three to five participants with particularly severe disabilities indicated that they felt that re-employment was not a realistic option for them. More than half of them reported that the WCB was supporting that choice.

“When I first got injured, WCB said I could have anything I needed. When I needed something, I’d call my adjudicator and he’d arrange for it. And then they left me alone.”

One participant with a severe disability who felt that re-employment was not a realistic option was concerned that the continuity of his wage loss benefits would be jeopardized if he did not agree to pursue vocational rehabilitation activities recommended by the WCB, but which he felt were inappropriate. He also indicated an interest in pursuing casual volunteer opportunities, but worried that his wage loss benefits would be reduced or discontinued if the WCB became aware that he was doing a few hours of volunteer work each week.

Older Injured Workers

Three to five participants over 50 felt that they were offered more limited vocational rehabilitation opportunities than younger persons. One older injured worker who was provided with introductory computer courses reported:

“I went to a workshop on how to write resumés and how to apply for jobs. There were other people there who were going to school full time, five days a week, taking different computer programs. I asked one of the guys from Workers Comp ‘why can’t I do that?’ And he said I didn’t qualify for that. And I said ‘how do you determine who qualifies for what kind of training?’ And he said they take into account the education you had, the amount of money you were earning at your job where you got hurt, and your age. My education wasn’t that good, I wasn’t making a high wage, and I’m an older worker…I think they don’t re-train older workers because they know [older workers] will never find a job. Why would a company hire somebody who has no training or experience, for maybe five years of employment [before reaching retirement age] when they could get young people out of school with a lot more training, who’ll be there a lot longer?”

Two older participants said that they were relatively content not working, and indicated that the WCB was supporting their decisions.

“They’ve accepted that, at my age [approximately 60], there isn’t much they can do to put me in the work force. So they’re just paying me now and leaving me be. And to be honest, I’m comfortable with that.”

Younger Injured Workers

When asked if the Apprentices and Youthful Workers policy (WCB Policy 44.80.30.30) had been applied to their claims, two participants whose injuries occurred when they were under 25 reported that they were either unaware of the policy, or that it had not been properly applied to their claims.