My employer wants me to have an injury “assessment”. What should I do?
Your employer might ask you to have a medical assessment if you:
- have a work injury and are away from work
- are working but haven’t returned to your regular duties
The assessment is done to see what you’re able to do at work. If the employer is asking for the asssement they must cover the cost of the assessment and any of your costs related to going to the assessment, for example, parking fees.
If your employer hasn’t explained why they want the assessment, ask them. If you think the assessment might help you, you could go.
If you’re not sure, ask your doctor if the assessment would be helpful or if you’re medically ready for an assessment. For example, if your employer wants to send you to a person to test how much you can lift (this is called a “functional assessment”), your doctor may think it’s too soon for you to even try lifting.
If you don’t want to go
If you decide that you don’t want to go to the assessment, you must tell your employer.
Your employer can ask the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to decide if you have to go. So when you tell your employer that you don’t want to go, make sure to tell them why. You should also tell the WSIB why you don’t want to go.
Sometimes your employer may want you to go for an assessment because your doctor has not provided enough information about your injury and restrictions. You can ask your doctor to provide more information and see if that changes your employer’s mind.
But if the WSIB decides that you need to go for the assessment, you need to go or they could reduce or stop your benefits. See Step 3 below.
