Responding to an Appeal

Respondents and Interested Parties

The party who starts an appeal with us is called the appellant. The appellant can be a worker or an employer. The other party to the appeal is called the respondent. Using information from the WSIB, we determine the respondent(s) who needs to be notified of the appeal and invite them to participate.

We may also identify interested parties who are not the appellant or the respondent, but have a connection to an appeal. For example, another employer.

Invitation to Participate in an Appeal

If we decide that you are a respondent or an interested party, we’ll send you the appellant’s Notice of Appeal form, the final WSIB decision under appeal and a Response Form. You have 4 weeks to return the Response Form to us. This lets us know if you want to participate in the appeal.

If you participate, start collecting any new evidence that you want us to consider in the appeal. We’ll request it later in the process.

If you don’t want to participate, we may contact you to give evidence we think is important to the appeal.

Interpreters

Our hearings are held in French or English, or a combination of both languages. When a party does not speak or understand French or English, we’ll provide an interpreter. You cannot bring your own interpreter to a hearing. If you need an interpreter, tell us on your Response Form.

No Response

If an employer doesn’t return the Response Form in 4 weeks, we’ll assume that the employer does not want to participate. We’ll confirm this in a letter. We’ll send no further information about the appeal to them except our final decision.

If a worker does not return the Response Form in 4 weeks, we’ll follow-up on whether the worker consents to the release of their WSIB claim file(s). For more information, please review Practice Direction #3 – Consent for the WSIAT to Release a Worker’s Information.

If you have any questions, please Contact Us.