The false promise of return to work for migrant workers injured on the job in Canada: When public policies intersect to create exclusion.
Jill Hanley, Guillermo Ventura Sanchez, Pankil Goswami and 3 others
PMID 40223307WHAT IT FOUND
Injured migrant workers described return to work as blocked by closed work permits, fear of employer reprisal, and inadequate compensation.
Some did not file claims, abandoned jobs, or returned to unsafe duties. Reorientation was rarely accessible.
Key findings
01Of 21 injured migrant workers interviewed, 11 made a CNESST claim, and most were dissatisfied with the outcome.
02Some workers who stopped work but did not file a claim reported being unaware of workers compensation, unable to access care, or fearing employer reprisal.
03Only one worker returned to the same job under a successful CNESST claim, and only one was involved in reorientation, which was unsuccessful.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study interviewed 21 migrant workers, so it describes their accounts rather than measuring how common those patterns are. Participants were recruited through advocacy organizations and social networks, so workers without those contacts may be underrepresented. The findings are specific to Quebec and to workers whose injury or illness was serious enough to warrant leave. The paper did not verify CNESST claim outcomes from administrative records for all participants.
Declared interests
The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research under grant PWP-159064, and the authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 5 relatively successful CNESST claims as evidence that claims usually work. Four were denied and two were in progress among the 11 workers who claimed.