Workers' compensation benefits
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to workers injured in the course of their employment. Eligibility for, and awarding of, benefits to injured workers are determined by workers’ compensation boards, which are funded through employer premiums. IWH research focuses on trends in workers’ compensation benefits, their adequacy and equity, and their effects on workers.
Journal article
Journal article
Estimating time to reinjury among Washington State injured workers by degree of permanent impairment: using state wage data to adjust for time at risk
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, November 2020
Journal article
Journal article
Age differences in work-disability duration across Canada: examining variations by follow-up time and context
Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, September 2020
Journal article
Journal article
Examining the impact of occupational health and safety vulnerability on injury claim reporting in three Canadian provinces
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, February 2020
IWH in the media
‘Nothing like it in the world’: Should Canada adopt New Zealand’s approach to supporting victims?
After New Zealand's prime minister pledges to financially support the recovery of survivors of a deadly mosque attack, Global News journalist Jane Gerster talks to Institute for Work & Health president Dr. Cam Mustard about the distinct features of New Zealand's no-fault insurance scheme.
Published: Global News, March 2019
Project
Project
Project
Tracking long-term outcomes of injured workers in Ontario to better target supports
Status: Ongoing
Issue Briefing
Measuring the adequacy of workers’ compensation benefits in Ontario: An update
In 2011, an IWH Issue Briefing summed up research on the adequacy of earnings replacement benefits for injured workers with permanent impairments in Ontario and B.C. This update looks at more recent cohorts, after major changes in Ontario’s workers’ compensation legislation.
Published: March 2016
At Work article
Workers’ comp benefits keep poverty low among permanently impaired workers and their families, study by IWH finds
Ambitious study of earnings of injured and non-injured workers over 10 years finds benefits play important role in reducing poverty among permanently impaired
Published: August 2015
Project report
Project report
Work injury and poverty: investigating prevalence across programs and over time
This report shares the findings from a study on the prevalence of poverty among permanently impaired injured workers across different time periods and receiving benefits from different legislative programs.
Published: July 2014
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Income security and labour-market engagement: Envisioning the future of work disability policy in Canada
In this plenary IWH senior scientists Drs. Emile Tompa and Ellen MacEachen describe the new Centre for Research in Work Disability Policy, recently launched to address work disability policy challenges through a seven-year SSHRC Partners grant. They describe the centre’s mandate and how it's organized to create a new generation of research on work disability policy.
Published: February 2014