WCB Question

[oyster_777]

Wife works in a dental office as a hygienist. Been doing this for 15+ years now. Recently her shoulder is experiencing abnormal pain... 6 months now. Last week she had an MRI done and they found she has calsific tendonitis in her shoulder. Basically a buildup of calcium between the bone and muscle. This is a well known problem in the dental hygiene industry at her age.

Treatment varies but surgery apparently works the best. Recovery is approx 9 months.

So i start digging into how we will pay bills and such when this operation takes place. I look at the WCB to see what our options are.

Well im reading that dental offices do not have to pay into WCB on behalf of their employees and therefore she does not have any coverage if she out of work.. I thought coverage was mandatory in Alberta?

Am i missing something here? What are the options if WCB isn't available? Anyone else had to go through this scenario without WCB coverage? What did you do?

[schmedlap]

WCB only applies to industries or areas of work for which it is either mandatory or optional. It is in effect a replacement for private insurance of the same matters. Most industries where the work itself has no or low risk of serious direct injury are not covered. That is why many such workplaces have private insurance and benefit plans, inclusive of short and/or long term disability insurance. If her employee group (or herself) have such a plan, there may be some available compensation there. If not, and she is employed per se (not contracted), then the next alternative is EI.

[oyster_777]

Thanks for the reply. She's an employee without benefits.

[eltorro]

EI may not be the best option, because if one is disabled (unable to perform work), one cannot be compensated by EI as if they are looking for work. Not saying it is right, but just warning you of the pitfalls.
Disability coverage is best.

It is unlikely that the dental office does not have WCB coverage. If they are not covered, they are exposed to a number of risks - namely lawsuits.

First step, find out if the office has coverage.

When visiting the doctor, mention that it is work-related. The doctors will likely want to find out if it is metabolic or generated by the type of work performed. From what you say, the cases with similar symptoms abound.

When WCB opens a case, they will pay for the whole shebang - most importantly for post-surgery physiotherapy (not covered -me thinks - by our AB health).

Hope this helps.

[unclebuck]

Your dear wife has probably paid CPP for the term of her employment(s) over the years, no matter where it was. CPP provides for disability. I lost both ankles to osteoarthritis(presently bone grinding on bone and waiting for remedial surgery) and did collect disability benefits from CPP, however not without some difficulties. It would probably depend on her age and how degenerative her condition is to claim the benefit. Get the form from Service Canada, and have her physician complete it as to the gravity of her disability, and probabilities of her returning to her present job. I did have to go through an appeal process, but needless to say it worked out rather well for me(over 60 yrs. of age.)

[moosemad]

Originally Posted by eltorro

EI may not be the best option, because if one is disabled (unable to perform work), one cannot be compensated by EI as if they are looking for work. Not saying it is right, but just warning you of the pitfalls.
Disability coverage is best.

It is unlikely that the dental office does not have WCB coverage. If they are not covered, they are exposed to a number of risks - namely lawsuits.

First step, find out if the office has coverage.

When visiting the doctor, mention that it is work-related. The doctors will likely want to find out if it is metabolic or generated by the type of work performed. From what you say, the cases with similar symptoms abound.

When WCB opens a case, they will pay for the whole shebang - most importantly for post-surgery physiotherapy (not covered -me thinks - by our AB health).

Hope this helps.

My wife worked at a place with no WCB coverage, she ended up being off for about 6 months and EI paid her. When you fill out your weekly or bi weekly form on line you just check the box: unable to work due to illness.

[bigdaddy37]

It's a bit of a misconception that WCB is mandatory for all industries. It is mandatory for many, but many are exempt. http://www.wcb.ab.ca/pdfs/employers/...industries.pdf

It is not unusual for companies not to have WCB account if their industries are exempt. It's surprising how many industries are exempt. Golf coures, accounting firms, dental/medical offices etc are all exempt. Some exempt companies choose to have WCB for employees, but there are many that do not. WCB coverage can be expensive. It doesn't hurt to ask the employer. I've seen a few who have WCB for their board of directors/owners only as this limits liability in case of a suit, but they don't carry it for employees.

If the employer is exempt and not insurred, WCB will not pay. Just because the doctor submits their report it does'nt mean anything. Only if the company has coverage will they even look at the claim. Calcified tendonitis can be either RSI or degenerative. WCB will look for a specific incident/trauma and will investigate. I'll bet WCB will say it's degenerative and a pre-existing condition and they'd deny it and you will have a fight on your hands to show work duties aggravated the pre-existing condition. Unless an examining physician opines work made the pre-existing condition worse, it can be a tough fight to win.

EI has medical absence benefits for about 15 weeks. This is different than regular EI, has different requirements and is quite simple to get (but does take time as it is gov't after-all).

CPP does have a disability pension. Generally you must be deemed totally and permanently disabled and unemployable. It's not easy to qualify and there are many hoops to jump through. I've seen it take up to 6 months to go through the process and with a diagnosis of calcified tendonitis, not likely to be approved in my experience as prognosis for returning to work after surgery is pretty good.

Just my 2 cents.

[backpacker]

My neighbour had surgery on his foot to repair a torn tendon/ligament? and has been on EI sick leave for 11 weeks , so that angle should help incase WCB pulls it's normal stunts. Best of luck.