This research stream focused on how the workers’ compensation system influences the rehabilitation and return-to-work process of those suffering from work-related injury or illness when precariously employed in Ontario.

Projects carried out in this stream relate to:

1. Self-employment in relation to work injury and return to work. University of Waterloo doctoral student, Tauhid Khan, completed and published a critical narrative review on how self-employed workers navigate, experience, or manage their injuries and illness. His doctoral thesis, completed in 2022, was a qualitative investigation of self-employment, work injury/illness and RTW in Ontario.
2. How precariously employed workers and their employers approach return to work and how well our current laws and policies support this process. In-depth interviews were conducted with employers and workers in Ontario to inform law and policy reform.
3. Retirement pension poverty among injured workers with long-term workers’ compensation claims. A mixed methods approach was used to explain policies related to retirement income; rationales that supported a legislative change that reduced retirement pensions; and workers’ experiences of living with a workers’ compensation pension.

Researchers

• Ellen MacEachen
• Anne Hudon
• Katherine Lippel, former professor and Distinguished Chairholder in Occupational Health and Safety Law, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Civil Law section (deceased September 23 2021)

Trainees

• Tauhid Khan Hussain, PhD, University of Waterloo
• Nicole Billias, BSc, University of Waterloo
• Pamela Hopwood, PhD (ABD), University of Waterloo
• Meghan Crouch, PhD, University of Waterloo
• Sue Sherifali, former PhD student, University of Waterloo

Precarious employment, work-related health, and return to work among the Toronto South Asian community

Extensive economic and social precarity was documented in the Toronto South Asian community by the South Asian Women’s Rights Organization (SAWRO), the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic and Stephanie Premji. While these efforts produced valuable knowledge, SAWRO members identified a need to further document the causes and implications of work injuries and illnesses linked to precarious employment among the South Asian community, including implications for return to work. Community members worked on all stages of the research as peer researchers conducting focus groups discussions and surveying South Asian men and women who are or were precariously employed and who have experienced a physical or mental health problem because of work in order to document lived experiences.

Researchers

• Stephanie Premji

Trainees

• Momtaz Begum
• Kishower Leila (peer researcher)

This research stream focused on how the workers’ compensation system influences the rehabilitation and return-to-work process of those suffering from work-related injury or illness when precariously employed in Quebec.

Projects carried out in this stream relate to:

1. The role of front-line union representatives in the return-to-work process. This project combining legal analysis and qualitative study was led by Maxine Visotzky-Charlebois as part of her doctoral thesis and supervised by Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, Emmanuelle Bernheim and previously Katherine Lippel.
2. The path taken by employees following the filing of a complaint of psychological harassment under the Loi sur les normes du travail, from the time they participate in mediation offered by the Commission des normes de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité en milieu de travail  to their re-entry or non-return to the labour market. This mixed-methods exploratory study was conducted by Pascale Lanctôt-Leroy as part of her master's degree in labour law, under the supervision of Rachel Cox and Gilles Dupuis.
3. The lack of protection from psychological and sexual harassment in the workplace for people without immigration status. This ethnographic study was conducted by Noémie Beauvais as part of her master's degree in labour law, under the supervision of Rachel Cox.

Researchers

• Katherine Lippel, former professor and Distinguished Chairholder in Occupational Health and Safety Law, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Civil Law section (deceased September 23 2021)
• Rachel Cox
• Anne Hudon

Trainees

• Jean-Paul Dautel, former PhD student at University of Ottawa, now professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, Département des relations industrielles
• Faiza Kadri, PhD student, Université du Québec à Montréal, département des sciences juridiques
• Camille Lanthier-Riopel, former Masters student, University of Ottawa, Faculté de droit, section droit civil
• Maxine Visotzky-Charlebois, PhD student, University of Ottawa, Faculté de droit, section droit civil
• Noémie Beauvais, Masters student, Université du Québec à Montréal, département des sciences juridiques
• Pascale Lanctôt-Leroy, Masters student, Université du Québec à Montréal, département des sciences juridiques

There is limited research on occupational health and safety, access to workers’ compensation and return-to-work among those who engage in extended/complex mobility to and within work (Canada’s mobile labour force), including among the precariously employed. This research stream focused on ways complex/extended work-related mobility to and within work is associated with a range of hazards and health and safety regulatory challenges including with return to work. The research builds on related studies carried out through the On the Move Partnership grantgrant and the  Centre for Research in Work Disability Policy Partnership grant. 

Katherine Lippel, Barbara Neis, Maxine Visotzky-Charlebois and Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau completed a peer-reviewed, book length manuscript entitled Occupational Safety and Health and Canada’s Mobile Labour Force: Challenges with Regulatory Effectiveness that is accepted with revisions by Athabasca University Press.

During the Partnership Development Grant, researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta compared return to work experiences among compensated workers injured in Alberta who were also residents of Alberta, to those injured in Alberta but living in Atlantic Canada. During the full project, the UBC researchers then compared disability duration for inter-provincially mobile with that for intra-provincially mobile and nonmobile workers.

Memorial and UBC researchers completed a multi-methods study of occupational hazards, work injury and return to work among maritime workers in British Columbia. Researchers at UBC carried out a descriptive epidemiological study using WorkSafeBC compensation claims data. Memorial researchers surveyed and did interviews with injured seafarers, longshore workers, fish harvesters and marine aquaculture workers about their injuries/illnesses and return to work experiences.

Memorial researchers organized the Newfoundland and Labrador Dialogue on Return to Work. This knowledge synthesis and exchange initiative focused on transferring to key stakeholders in Newfoundland and Labrador research results related to return to work done elsewhere along with findings from an environmental scan of return to work policies and practices comparing those in Newfoundland and Labrador to relevant other Canadian provinces.   

Dana Howse carried out a policy-related project on work mobility and return to work among injured workers in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Researchers

• Barbara Neis
• Chris McLeod
• Desai Shan
• Robert MacPherson
• Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, University of Montreal
• Katherine Lippel, former professor and Distinguished Chairholder in Occupational Health and Safety Law, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Civil Law section (deceased September 23 2021)
  (deceased September 23 2021)

Trainees

• Dana Howse, former postdoctoral fellow, Memorial
• Maxine Visotzky-Charlebois, Ph.D. student, University of Ottawa
• Contessa Small, research assistant, Memorial University
• Geneviève Richard, Majda Lamkhioued, Guillaume Trifiro, Jérôme Bélanger, and Jean-Paul Dautel.

Despite the wide reliance on Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) throughout the Canadian economy, scant attention has been paid to issues surrounding their access to workers’ compensation (WC), and even less is known about the unique circumstances surrounding the return to work (RTW) issues for those who have experienced occupational injuries or illness.  

This research focused on:  

1. investigating the RTW barriers and facilitators for TFWs across agriculture streams of the TFWP in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec;  
2. comparing the RTW barriers and facilitators for TFWs in these two jurisdictions; and  
3. proposing policy solutions to ensure optimal RTW outcomes for TFWs employed in the province of Ontario and Quebec

Main methods used included a document and policy analysis of WC and TFWP contracts and policies; qualitative interviews with stakeholders in government, health care and the WCB; qualitative interviews with injured TFWs across program streams; and an analysis of available WC data regarding rates of RTW for injured TFWs in relation to comparison populations.   

Researchers

• Janet McLaughlin
• Jenna Hennebry
• Jill Hanley
• Susana Caxaj

Trainees

• Pankil Goswani, PhD student, McGill University
• Stephanie Mayell, PhD student, University of Toronto
• Guillermo Vensan, PhD student, Concordia University

Identification of turning points in the journeys of immigrant workers who suffered a work-related accident and the impacts on the strategies of OHS stakeholders

The migratory path, the non-recognition of diplomas or the situation of overqualification and the lack of awareness of OHS rights and obligations, precarious work and possible language barriers are just some of the factors that are known in rehabilitation to influence the return to work process. Inspired by the life-course approach and the life story technique, this qualitative study aims to better understand and locate the turning points in the lives of immigrant workers who have suffered a work-related accident. This study includes a phase 2 where stakeholders will be invited to comment on the impact that a better understanding of these pathways can have on their intervention strategies. The results of this study will enrich our existing educational materials and those of OHS practitioners.

Researchers

• Daniel Côté
• Mircea Vultur
• Ai-Thuy Huynh

Trainee

• Mireille Gélinas

Union Guide for Return-to-Work Support and Accompaniment in situations relating to Mental Health and Psychological Harassment: From Rehabilitation to Prevention

This research stream focused on developing an individual and organizational return-to-work support approach for people who are returning to work after absence because of a mental health or psychological harassment problem. Building on the Guide to an integrated practices program for supporting a return to work and promoting job retention, this guide is designed specifically for union stakeholders. It takes into account the work situations that have contributed either to deteriorating workers mental health, including psychological harassment, or helping them return to work and maintain their employment.   

The intervention perspective falls within the field of occupational health and aims to support the transition from an individual approach focused on rehabilitation to an organizational approach that goes beyond individual support to prevention.  In short, it involves moving from an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to an Organizational Assistance Program (OAP).   

Researchers

• Louise St-Arnaud
• Mariève Pelletier
• Rachel Cox
• Émilie Giguère
• Katherine Lippel, former professor and Distinguished Chairholder in Occupational Health and Safety Law, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Civil Law section (deceased September 23 2021)

Trainees

• Anne-Catherine Dubuc, Teaching manager, Université Laval
• Jean-Paul Dautel, former PhD student at the University of Ottawa, Civil Law section, now professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Département des relations industrielles
• Daniel Trudel, Masters student, Université Laval
• Geneviève Girard, Bachelors student, Université Laval
• Jade Avoine, Masters student, Université Laval
• Amel Ben Ahmed, PhD student, Université Laval