Your Guide: services and responsibilities – business edition

We understand the impact a workplace injury or illness can have on a business and its employees and we’re here to help. Making sure people have the support, care and expertise they need to recover and return to work is what we do.

This guide will help you understand the services we offer as well as your responsibilities as an Ontario business. This guide doesn't list every service we offer or every responsibility you may have it's meant to provide you with answers to some of the most commonly asked questions we know many people have about the WSIB. All of our decisions are based on the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA) and our policies.

• Services
• Responsibilities
• Additional resources

Services: what do we offer?

Workplace insurance

With WSIB coverage you:

• get affordable workplace coverage you can rely on to protect you and your employees
• are guaranteed no-fault workplace insurance that protects you from costly court settlements for your employees’ workplace injuries and illnesses
• receive important services and support when you need them

Health and safety services

By participating in our voluntary programs, eligible businesses can improve workplace health and safety, which can lead to a reduction in premiums.

Health and Safety Excellence program

Our Health and Safety Excellence program helps you make your workplace safer, while earning rebates on your WSIB premiums.

• The program is tailored to your individual business needs and sector, and you can join at any time.
• To join the program, you select one of our WSIB-approved providers who will help you develop a health and safety action plan based on different focus areas, known as program topics, such as controlling hazards and emergency preparation. You can also reach out to one of our program consultants, who will reply to you within two business days of your form submission.
• The program has 36 topics spread across three levels – foundation, intermediate and advanced. Whether you're just getting started or want to build on safety practices you already have in place, one of our WSIB-approved program providers will help you every step of the way.  
• The program can also help you achieve best practice standards, including the Chief Prevention Officer’s accreditation program, Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers (SOSE). 
• Through the program, you can earn rebates on your WSIB premiums and recognition badges that you can use on your website and other marketing materials to show your commitment to workplace health and safety. 

Responsibilities: what is expected of your business

Health and safety

As a business covered by the WSIB and operating in Ontario, there are a number of things you’re required to do to make you workplace healthy and safe, including providing mandatory health and safety training, having a first aid station and displaying the in case of injury at work poster in your workplace. 

You can learn more about your health and safety responsibilities, as well as where to find resources and support.

Workplace injury or illness

Reporting an injury or illness

Businesses must report a work-related accident to us if you learn that an employee requires health care and/or:

• is absent from regular work
• earns less than regular pay for regular work (e.g. part-time hours)
• requires modified work at less than regular pay
• requires modified work at regular pay for more than seven calendar days following the date of accident (in this case, the reporting obligation begins on the eighth day of modified work)

Businesses are not required to report a work-related accident if the employee:

• receives only first aid
• receives first aid and requires modified work at regular pay for seven calendar days or less, following the date of accident
• does not receive first aid, but requires modified work at regular pay for seven calendar days or less, following the date of accident

Businesses must report a work-related accident to the WSIB if they learn that an employee requires health care and/or:

• is absent from regular work
• earns less than regular pay for regular work (e.g., part-time hours)
• requires modified work at less than regular pay, or
• requires modified work at regular pay for more than seven calendar days following the date of accident.

The WSIB must receive a complete accident report within three business days after the business learns of the reporting obligation (business days are Monday to Friday, and do not include statutory holidays).

It's against the law to discourage your employee from reporting a workplace injury or illness to the WSIB, or to influence them to withdraw or abandon their claim. To make sure you know and are complying with your responsibilities, check out the injury or illness reporting self-evaluator (PDF).

On the day of injury, you must:

• pay your employee their full wages and employment benefits as if the injury had not occurred.
• pay for, or provide directly, transportation to send your injured employee to the proper medical facility to receive treatment, if necessary.

Employer requested health examinations

You may ask that your employee be examined by a health professional that you choose and pay for. The examination must only relate to the injuries, diseases or conditions for which the individual is claiming benefits. The selected health professional must provide a copy of the health examination to us. Read more about health examinations.

Return to work

Supporting recovery and return to work

As a business, it’s your responsibility to stay connected with your employee and to help ensure they return to suitable and available work. This includes:

• contacting your employee as soon as possible after the injury or illness
• maintaining appropriate, and regular, communication with your employee throughout their recovery and return to work
• providing suitable work that is available and within your employee’s functional abilities, and restores as much of their pre-injury earnings as possible

You may ask your employee's treating health care provider to complete a functional abilities form. This is an optional form designed to support return to work by helping you and your employee identify suitable jobs that they are able to perform.

See additional details about your responsibilities as your employee returns to work.

Re-employment obligations

Legally, you must re-employ your employee if they are able to perform the essential duties of their pre-injury job or another suitable job in your workplace as long as it's safe to do so. This obligation exists under the following circumstances:

• the employee, as a result of their work-related injury or illness, is absent from work, or works less than regular hours, and/or requires accommodated work that pays, or normally pays, less than their regular pay
• the employee has been continuously employed by you for at least one year before the date of injury; and
• you regularly employ 20 or more employees

See more information on your responsibilities in the return-to-work process, and our approach to job accommodations (PDF).

If you're a business in the construction industry, other re-employment responsibilities apply. Read our Re-employment in the Construction Industry policy for more information.

Managing your account

Reporting and paying your premiums

Your WSIB premiums are used to pay benefits for people who are injured or become ill in the workplace. Learn more about your premium and payment obligations, how and when to report and pay or check out our FAQs for additional details. 

Keep us updated

You must let us know of any changes to your business within 10 calendar days. You can send us a message, call, mail, or email us with this information.

Types of changes you must tell us about include:

• ownership
• address and phone number
• type of work your business does
• legal, trade or business name
• or, if you stop employing all of your employees, or your business closes

Your account changes will be completed within three to five business days of your request submission.

Third party representation

You have the option to use a third-party representative to provide advice and assist you in doing business with us. Authorized representatives may receive verbal or written information (e.g. copies of claim file documents) and represent you during the appeals process.

You’ll need to complete an authorization form to grant access to your representative. Authorized representatives are licensed under the Law Society Act or are exempted from the requirements of that act.

• authorization for access to business account information form
• authorization for claim-related information for legal representative (Direction of authorization)

Our code of conduct for representatives sets out the standards of behaviour we expect from representatives of businesses and representatives of those who experienced a workplace injury or illness.

Clearance certificates

If you’re a contractor or subcontractor, you may obtain a clearance to demonstrate you’re registered with the WSIB and are ‘in good standing’ (meaning you report and pay premiums on time). Businesses rely on clearances to avoid liability for insurance premiums owing in connection with the work or services being performed.

If you directly retain a contractor to perform construction work, you must obtain a clearance that confirms the contractor is in good standing with us. You and the contractor must ensure that a clearance is obtained before the construction work begins and that a clearance remains in effect for the entire time the contractor is performing the work. You can get a clearance immediately through our online services or within three to five business days of receiving your if you request a clearance by email.

Responsibilities in the construction industry

Coverage in the construction industry is mandatory and reporting your payroll may be done differently. To learn more, visit mandatory coverage in the construction industry.

Schedule 1 and 2 businesses

Most businesses we cover fall under Schedule 1, but some industries fall under Schedule 2. Examples of Schedule 2 organizations are from the federal, provincial and/or municipal governments. Learn more about Schedule 1 and Schedule 2.

Decision-making

Sharing information

You're required to share any information we need to make decisions about your account or claims. This includes providing us with any information requested concerning your employee’s return to work.

We may conduct an audit to ensure accurate payroll reporting, proper classification and injury and illness reporting.

Questioning a WSIB decision

We carefully consider all available information with any decision we make. As a business, you may sometimes have questions or want to object to decisions about your account or an employee claim. The following outlines how you may proceed with an objection:

About your account

If you object to a decision related to your account (e.g. classification, assessable earnings or penalties related to discouraging injury or illness reporting), you may request a reconsideration by the decision maker, and provide any new or additional information that you may have.

If you're still not satisfied and want to continue with your objection, we will provide you with a form. Once we receive the form, a front-line decision maker will review it again. If there is no change to the original decision, we’ll forward the form to our appeals division.

About an employee claim

You may also ask us to reconsider a previous decision about an employee claim. You may do so if new or missing information becomes available or you feel that a piece of information should be looked at again.

The detailed processes surrounding appeals of these issues can be found in the appeals services division practice & procedures (PDF) document; however, please keep in mind:

• You must indicate, in writing, your intent to appeal within 30 days for return-to-work, work transition and re-employment decisions and six months for all other decisions

If you'd like to further challenge the decision made by the WSIB about your appeal, you can ask the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) to review the decision. WSIAT is a separate and independent adjudicative body.