An injured worker's rehabilitation plan can look appropriate on paper and still be unsuitable for the person expected to complete it. That was the problem in Decision No. 1407/07, 2008 ONWSIAT 615, where an Ontario workers compensation tribunal considered a program that a 55 year old worker could no longer manage.
The worker was participating in labour market re entry training following a workplace injury. She also had existing anxiety, hadn't been in formal education for many years and had limited computer skills. Once she began the program, those circumstances combined and she reached a point where continuing became impracticable.
The Tribunal concluded that suitability couldn't be judged only by reference to the medical conditions accepted as compensable. A rehabilitation plan must also account for the worker's practical ability to participate. Age, prior educational experience, technological skills and conditions that aren't themselves compensable can affect whether a proposed pathway will succeed.
The worker was found entitled to further loss of earnings benefits and a new assessment of what services could realistically assist her. The ruling didn't mean that every unsuccessful program is inappropriate. It turned on the particular combination of barriers before the Tribunal and the way they affected this worker.
For employers and compensation administrators, the enduring lesson is that a meaningful return to work assessment looks at the worker as a whole person. The goal isn't simply to place someone in a program that corresponds to an injury classification. It's to identify a realistic pathway back into employment.
Source note: The account is based on WSIAT's official published counsel summary. The 2008 statutory and program framework should not be assumed to reflect today's rules.