'This is ridiculous': Injured bus driver says he's waiting too long for Workers Compensation hearing

Irwin Wood has been waiting for more than a year to have his case heard by the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal, and he's had enough.

"I can't wait any longer. This is ridiculous," said Wood. "These people, you know, I'm sure if it was their job and they were injured, they'd be just as peed-off as I am."

Wood, 56, has been off work nearly five years due to knee injuries. The appeal tribunal is his court-of-last-resort as he attempts to have his benefits restored.

Turns out the bottleneck is not with the actual tribunal. It's in the office of the worker advisor, which is within the labour division of the Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning.

'Unusually high' number of cases

The worker advisor's office provides caseworkers, free of charge, to help workers like Wood prepare their legal arguments. The office currently has 85 appeal cases on its hands, including Wood's case. Three years ago, it had just 20. 

"This would be unusually high," said Shawn Shea, acting director of the Labour and Industrial Relations Division, which oversees the worker advisor office. "And we are working aggressively to try and have that scope of work completed."

But efforts to clear the backlog, so far, have not worked.

The office normally employs one full-time lawyer. The position is temporarily vacant and attempts to find a replacement have fallen short. The office is currently staffed one day a week by a lawyer, with help from two research assistants.

P.E.I.'s aging workforce may be one reason for the increase in caseload, according to Shea. Medical issues tend to be more complex among older workers. And the Island labour force is more aware of its rights, compared to when the service was established 22 years ago, said Shea.

The province is now grappling with the prospect that one lawyer is not enough.

Minister 'aware of the issue'

"Certainly there's more demands arising," said Shea. "So the question we're asking ourselves now is a fair question ... 'What is the appropriate complement of human resources we may need in the office?'"

The province says it is committed to reducing wait times for appeals, according to a statement provided to CBC from the office of Sonny Gallant, minister of workforce and advanced learning.

"The minister is aware of the issue regarding wait times for appeal and is currently actively working to increase the capacity of both the office of the worker advisor and the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal," the statement reads in part.

The province's plan to streamline appeals includes possible use of one-person tribunal panels to hear appeals. Provincial legislation currently requires a three-person panel to hear all appeals.

'Get more people in'

Eight of the 85 cases now at the worker advisor's office have been in the works for over a year, according to the province.

Irwin Wood says he now plans to pursue his appeal without the province's help.

"What these people don't understand is that the reason that they're there is because there's injured workers or ill workers," said Wood. "And if they're overworked, which I understand, maybe they're overworked. Well, get more people in."

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