Managing a claim and return to work

The goal of managing a claim is to return the worker to a productive working life. This requires the active participation of the worker, the employer and the health care community, working with the WCB in a co-operative relationship.

Effective claims management begins with prompt medical treatment, if required, and early and accurate reporting of the injury. Learn how to report a worker’s injury.

As soon as the WCB receives a worker report from either the worker, the employer or the caregiver, a claims entitlement specialist begins gathering information on the claim. The claims entitlement specialist assesses the circumstances surrounding the injury and makes a decision, based on legislation and policy, to either accept or deny the claim. An efficient decision-making process is important for prompt payment of any wage loss and for fair, timely and cost-effective return to wellness.

When a claim is accepted, the WCB pays medical expenses (these are not paid by Saskatchewan Health), wage loss and other benefits. The WCB also pays other benefits for permanent disabilities. In case of a work-related fatality, we pay burial costs and other benefits to the worker’s dependants.

Managing a claim

All parties are responsible for maintaining communication throughout the claims process.

Your worker should provide you with information from their care provider about the work duties they can perform and the date you can expect them to resume the work they were doing before the injury. The information will help you arrange temporary duties until the worker is ready to go back to their usual work.

Stay in touch with your worker, their care provider, union representative and the WCB to set up and follow a return-to-work plan to get the worker back on the job as soon as it’s medically safe to do so.

If your worker’s recovery takes longer than expected, or is serious in nature, their claim is reassessed as long term and your claim is assigned to a customer care facilitator team. Teams are located in both our Regina and Saskatoon offices. Learn more about management services.

The worker will be assigned a case manager. The customer care facilitator and the rest of the team will work with you and your worker to co-ordinate medical and vocational rehabilitation services. This includes return-to-work plans to help your worker get back to productive work as soon as it’s medically safe.

The team approach to claims management has been developed to ensure that long-term claims are handled efficiently, appropriate medical treatment is provided when most effective and workers are returned to work as soon as medically safe. Learn more about the claims management process.

To help manage a claim, you need to:

• Investigate and document the cause(s) and factors contributing to the incident. 
• Determine procedures or modifications to prevent similar incidents in the future. Keep accurate records of all incidents. Occupational Health and Safety legislation states that you must log all mishaps and injuries.

Return to work

Employers, workers, care providers and the WCB must work together to prevent work injuries and, when injuries happen, get workers back to work as soon as it is medically safe.

Working together, the partners will address workers’ medical needs, arrange for meaningful work during recovery and provide benefits.