Your employer cannot legally fire you because you were injured at work or because you filed a WSIB claim. A claim with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) does not block every termination, though. Employers can still end jobs for genuine reasons unrelated to the injury, such as a company-wide layoff, and that is exactly where many disputes start.
Several protections apply while you are off work and after you return:
- Re-employment obligation. If your employer regularly employs 20 or more workers and you had been continuously employed for at least one year on the date of injury, the employer generally must offer to re-employ you once you are medically able to work, in your pre-injury job or suitable work. This obligation lasts for a limited period, in most cases up to two years after the injury. Different rules apply in construction.
- The six-month presumption. If you are terminated within six months of being re-employed while that obligation is still in effect, WSIB presumes your employer breached it. The employer then has to prove the termination had nothing to do with your injury, your treatment, or your claim. WSIB can levy significant financial penalties for a breach, and you may still be entitled to benefits.
- Human rights protection. Ontario’s Human Rights Code treats a workplace injury as a disability. Your employer has a duty to accommodate you up to undue hardship, and that duty applies no matter how small the company is or how short your service was. A firing connected to your injury may support an application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO).
Timing matters here. If you are dismissed within six months of returning to work, you generally have three months to ask WSIB to investigate. Keep your termination letter, your Record of Employment, and any messages about your injury or absences, and get advice before signing a release.
WorkAid provides paralegal representation for WSIB re-employment disputes and related HRTO matters. Book a free consultation or call 1-844-907-5243 to talk through what happened.
