Samy's* Story

THE ISSUE

While Samy was handling metal sheets at work, one slipped and severely gashed his right forearm. He was brought to a private clinic for surgery. But he lost sensation in the little finger of his right hand, and lost range of movement in the other fingers. He was given only 2 weeks’ post-surgery medical leave. Samy’s employer did not report his injury to the authorities, in breach of the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA). When Samy asked several weeks later, his employer said they would not report the injury, but would pay his medical leave wages; and he would receive more compensation than under WICA. Confused, Samy approached HOME.

DEVELOPMENTS

With HOME’s advice, Samy decided to report his injury under WICA, and seek proper specialist treatment at a public hospital. Shortly thereafter, Samy’s employer urged him to take a settlement of $7000, after which he would be repatriated. The employer threatened that if he pursued the WICA claim, he would be evicted from his dorm and have to bear his own living expenses.

Samy felt pressured to accept this settlement, although it was not based on any medical assessment of his loss of use of his right hand, which was what would have been done under the WICA process. He was made to sign a document saying his employer would have no further responsibility once he departed. HOME alerted the authorities of this arrangement. But Samy was sent home within a few days.

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Under WICA, employers are obliged to report workplace injuries. Samy’s employer breached their WICA obligation. HOME is not aware of any enforcement or investigation against the employer to date for their breach of WICA. WICA reporting is mandatory for good reason, and this obligation should be firmly enforced. Reporting affects workplace safety monitoring and insurance premiums. Injured workers must be protected from errant employers who disregard the law.

*Story as told to us by the worker

**Name has been changed to protect identity