Canadian Occupational Safety

February/March 2013 11 BY DAVID MARCHIONE COMPENSATION WATCH TRAINING I LEGAL CONNECTION Health & Safety Ontario is comprised of the following organizations: Canada's Largest HEALTH & SAFETY EVENT Celebrated Keynote Speakers APRIL 30–MAY 1, 2013 INTERNATIONAL CENTRE | 6900 AIRPORT ROAD, MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO CLARA HUGHES Six-time Olympic Medalist Summer and Winter Olympic Games Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve the Olympic Dream LEONARD BRODY Business and Technology Visionary The Monumental Shift: An In-Depth Look into the Future of Canada, Technology and the Changing Workforce DR. LINDA DUXBURY Professor, Sprott School of Business at Carleton University Work-Life Balance – Rhetoric Vs Reality Access to best practices, compliance advice and business solutions via 60+ interactive sessions, workshops and professional development courses REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE UP TO $100! To register or to request our Preliminary Guide PartnersinPreventionConference.com 1 877 494 9777 A lthough it may seem self-evi- dent, it is important to ensure that decisions made by the compensation board are issued in writing, and not just confi rmed ver- bally. In a few fi les that I have worked on lately, there have been issues related to this. Some compensation boards use a combination of form letters that are sent out to employers and/or work- ers, as well as decision letters that are written and customized for each claim and decision within that claim. Decisions should contain perti- nent facts of the situation at hand, the rationale for the decision, including a reference to applicable sections of the compensation legislation or any applicable operational policy, and any applicable deadline for appeal. e recipient should then have a full understanding of how the deci- sion maker came to that particular decision, and can decide whether or not to appeal it. I recently became aware of a claim where the compensation board had allowed health care benefi ts in the form of surgery, and wage loss ben- efi ts, in a claim that had previously been closed. e employer was not made aware of these decisions — either verbally or in writing. In fact, the employer remained unaware of the decisions to allow additional entitlement until the costs appeared on the employer's Accident Cost Statement issued by the com- pensation board. As this particular employer pays dollar for dollar for all accident costs, it was very surprised to see that additional entitlement had been allowed. On the downside of this situation, the employer must now scramble to try to minimize those accident costs by off ering suitable work to the worker in order to get the compensa- tion board to stop paying wage loss benefi ts. On the upside, however, because no decision was issued, they were not advised of an appeal deadline and will be able to appeal the decision. As the fi nan- ciers of the c o m p e n s a - tion system, employers must be aware of the decisions t hat are made in claim fi les. ose decisions impact claim costs and the ability to eff ec- tively manage the claim and appeal decisions in a timely manner. Employers should monitor claim costs and question any unexpected costs that appear related to a spe- cifi c claim. If a written decision was not issued, be sure to request one as soon as pos- sible in order to have a full grasp on what is happening in a claim. David Marchione is an occupational health and safety consultant and para- legal with Toronto-based law fi rm Gowlings. You can contact David at david.marchione@gowlings.com. Could you put that in writing? Be sure to stay on top of your claims fi les to avoid unexpected costs

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