Have you sustained an injury or an illness while at work?
First and foremost, notify the supervisor in charge of the premises before you leave (or as soon as you possibly can, considering the circumstances). Doing so will greatly enhance your credibility before the CNESST, as your employer will be less inclined to argue about the time and place of the incident.
The employer should be able to provide a CNESST claim form right away. If not, such a form can be found online or in any CNESST office. Keep in mind that it is quite different from the form one must fill out and file with the SAAQ following a road traffic accident.
A worker must file their claim within six (6) months of the work-related accident or occupational disease they are reporting. A copy of said claim must be provided to the employer. Although the CNESST systematically rejects all claims filed past the six (6)-month deadline, a worker may sometimes be allowed to explain why they did not act sooner.
The form, which is rather easy to complete, begins with the following information:
- Identification of the worker
- Identification of the employer
- Description of the premises
Of the six (6) items that follow, the fourth one deserves the most attention as it requires a description of the work-related event. Make sure that you describe the accident step by step, as in the following account: “I was standing at the counter, near the hammer. The hammer came loose and fell on my foot.”
Item 5 then asks the worker to describe the location of the event and the actions they took after it happened.
Item 6 must be filled out with great care and accuracy, as it contains the information the CNESST will rely upon while calculating the worker’s compensation for loss of income. Among other things, the worker is asked to provide a description of their domestic situation as well as copies of their tax returns.
The worker’s claim must be supported by the medical assessment a physician issued right after the work-related accident occurred. The assessment itself must contain an overall diagnosis, indicate how long the worker should stay away from work, and specify whether or not the worker should be able to return to work within sixty (60) days. In fact, the report must state exactly when the individual should go back to work.
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(Nothing in the foregoing must be interpreted or construed as providing a legal opinion.)
