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INTRODUCTION
Workers’
Compensation: A Manual for Workers’ Advocates is
a practitioner’s guide for injured workers’ representatives,
whether based in legal clinics, the private bar, injured workers’
groups, or unions. It is meant for both novices, who may be preparing
an appeal on an issue for the first time, as well as veterans,
who may simply need a refresher on an area they have not dealt
with in a while. We have a few suggestions on how to make the
best use of this manual.
First, each
time you reach for this manual to look up a specific subject,
we recommend that you also look over the table of contents to
find out whether there are other chapters that may be relevant
or connected to the issue at hand.
Second, when
preparing a case, do consult other resources in addition to this
manual. Doing so is vital in order for you to form a comprehensive
view of the issue at hand, and to ensure that your research is
up-to-date. Workers’ compensation law and, especially, Board
policy and practice, are constantly changing. Although this manual
was current as of November 2005 and reflects some changes occurring
after that time, it was inevitable that parts of it were out of
date the moment it was published. We recommend using this manual
in conjunction with:
- checking
for changes to relevant laws and policies made after November
2005;
- Butterworths
Workers’ Compensation in Ontario Service, written by G.
Dee,
N. McCombie, and G. Newhouse, and published by LexisNexis Canada;
- a thorough
search of decisions issued by the Workplace Safety and Insurance
Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) and, if appropriate, its predecessor,
the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal (WCAT); and
- other relevant
medical and legal reference texts as the issue requires.
Finally,
we encourage you to read the final chapter of this manual, Chapter
30: Strategic
Considerations, as a reminder of the many points you will need
to consider in the course of developing a case strategy. Seldom
is a representative called upon to assist an injured worker with
just a single discrete legal issue. More typically, the worker
has a number of issues, and a competent representative will develop
an overall strategy rather than proceeding on any one issue in
isolation.
We acknowledge
the contributions of the many writers, reviewers, and editors
who generously shared their expertise during the considerable
time it took to produce this edition of Workers’
Compensation: A Manual for Workers’ Advocates.
Thank you to everyone. We hope that this manual will be a valuable
resource.
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