Compensation board rife with its own workplace problems: source

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba is struggling to process a mountain of outstanding claims as it grapples with a rising number of vacancies and a corresponding increase in workload for staff who remain, the Free Press has learned.

A source, who has decades of experience at the board, said the last 12 to 18 months have been some of the most difficult of his career due to the high level of turnover, problems with hiring and retaining case-management workers, and recent changes to policy that have resulted in more claims being accepted.

“The current workload levels are unmanageable and it’s taking a toll on employees in case management,” he said.

The board provides injury and disability insurance for workers and employers in the province.

“With approximately 600 employees, the WCB is dedicated to ensuring and supporting safe and healthy workplaces,” its website says.

But workplace conditions at the board have deteriorated, said the source, who didn’t want his name published.

“Things are only going to get worse as we progress through summer into the new year… there are no quick fixes to this,” he said.

Case management staff take on files after adjudicators accept or reject the initial claim. The amount of time a claim requires varies based on a multitude of factors, which makes it difficult to quantify the increased workload, he said, adding each staffer receives as much as 40 per cent more in case files than what would have been considered a fair workload.

It’s resulted in what he called a ramping up of problems at the independent agency: high turnover has required more training of case management staff, which can take six to nine months, but the WCB is struggling to hire people, and it has affected the quality of service for people seeking compensation for a workplace injury.

Case workers are burning out and are worried about the effect summer vacations will have on staffing and resources, he said.

Complicating the issue is last month’s departure of Richard Deacon as chief executive officer. Details about why he left the top job have never been released. He’s been replaced by Catherine Skinner, who is interim CEO.

A spokesperson for the WCB said Wednesday that staff vacancies have increased.

While the number of overall claims in the first quarter of 2024 was similar to the number of claims in the first quarter of 2023, there has been an increase in “complex claims,” described as “psychological and occupational disease claims such as hearing loss.”

“Resource planning, along with associated recruitment and training, continues to be a key focus for the organization.”– a spokesperson for the WCB

“Staff vacancies are higher than normal currently, especially within our case-management area. However, this area manages longer-term injury claims and does not investigate and adjudicate new claims and, therefore, would not be contributing to any delays,” he said in an email.

“Resource planning, along with associated recruitment and training, continues to be a key focus for the organization.”

The spokesperson confirmed that board chair Michael Werier, who has served in the role since 2009, will be leaving in May, and Dan Holland, the vice president of compensation services at the WCB, intends to retire later this year after holding the position for 25 years.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1063, which represents WCB staff, had no official comment.

Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said he was approached by an external company representing the WCB about six weeks ago and was interviewed about what he would like to see from a board chair.

He said the federation has heard that injured workers are waiting longer to get help and there have been staff shortages, which he called troubling, especially considering the recent expansion of WCB coverage to include psychological injuries.

“We know that people are out there suffering from these injuries, and then hearing that they don’t have the staff required to help deal with that, is a problem for us,” he said.

The WCB was removed as a government-reporting entity in 2018, and legislation formalizing its independence was passed in 2020 under the former Tory government.

Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino is responsible for appointing three members to the WCB board, and day-to-day operations are “outside of ministerial scope,” she said in a statement.

“It’s pointing to some problems with that independence,” Rebeck said.

“That there isn’t that direct connect, and we’re seeing a bunch of gaps and lack of staffing supports required for the services that people are counting on.”

Jackie Romans’ 80-year-old father-in-law is among the cases in limbo.

Romans is handling her father-in-law’s claim for hearing aids. An audiologist decided in November that his hearing loss was directly caused by decades of work in overhead door maintenance, and his case was put before the WCB.

There hasn’t been any movement on the file since January.

When she calls to follow up, she said she’s been told staff are “significantly backlogged” and to check back in four to six weeks.

“They kind of laughed and said, ‘No, it’s not back yet,’ and I said… ‘When can I follow up again?’ and they said not till the end of April at the very earliest, and it was kind of like, even then, most likely, we won’t have a response.”

Her father-in-law has no hearing and his quality of life suffers the longer the case lingers.

“I just think it’s ridiculous, the fact that we are waiting that long for workers compensation, these are people that have ailing health, and have some serious concerns,” she said.

Unionized WCB workers voted in favour of a strike in fall 2022, after going without a contract for over a year. The union issued a notice that staff would walk out in March 2023, and a tentative agreement was reached days later.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca