If your employer is dragging its feet, or telling you not to bother, you are not stuck. Your claim does not depend on your employer's paperwork, and the rules on reporting are firm.
When does my employer have to report?
The WSIB's Form 7 reference guide says an employer must report when it learns that a worker needs health care, or is off work, earns less, or needs modified work at regular pay for more than seven calendar days. The WSIB must receive the report within three business days.
The employer must report even if you say you do not want a claim, and should give you a copy of the completed form.
What happens to an employer that does not report?
- A $250 penalty for reporting after three business days.
- A $1,000 penalty for reporting more than 30 calendar days late.
- A separate $250 penalty for not giving the worker a copy.
Failing to comply is also an offence under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. The guide says an individual can be fined up to $25,000, jailed for up to six months, or both, and a corporation can be fined up to $500,000.
Can I file without my employer?
Yes. File your own Worker's Report of Injury/Disease, called Form 6, online or by mail or fax. The limit is six months from the date of injury or diagnosis. Our article How to Fill Out WSIB Form 6 explains each part.
What if I am being asked not to claim?
Being asked to use sick days instead, to "keep it off the books", or being told your job depends on not claiming can cross into claim suppression. Discouraging or preventing a worker from claiming is an offence under section 155.1 of the Act, and the WSIB publishes convictions for it.
You can tell the WSIB what is happening at 1-800-387-0750.
What should I write down?
- The day you reported the injury, to whom, and how: in person, by text or by email.
- What you were told, word for word if you can, with the date and the person's name.
- Every follow-up you made to ask whether the report was sent.
- Your first medical visit, and that you told the clinician it happened at work.
Screenshots of texts and saved emails are worth keeping in one place.
Why use Hurt Square?
Because your claim does not depend on your employer's paperwork, and your own record shows you reported it. Hurt Square guides give you one place to keep every date, name and message from the first day.
- Every report and follow-up, in one place. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide has structured space for when you reported, to whom, what you were told and every call and message since.
- Your own Form 6, step by step. The Ontario Workplace Injury Companion Guide explains Forms 6, 7 and 8, the six-month Form 6 deadline and how to object, through to the Appeals Tribunal.
- Made for hard days. 123 pages and more than 1,200 fillable fields that work on your phone, tablet or computer, in plain language. When your union representative, worker adviser or lawyer asks for something, it is already there.
Both guides, $39 until 22 November. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide and the Ontario Workplace Injury Companion Guide, with the discount applied at checkout. Bought separately: $63.99.
Get both guidesWhat about my job?
Ontario has rules on re-employment after a workplace injury. Our article “Can They Really Let Me Go?” | Fired While on WSIB in Ontario? What Your Employer Must Do, and What to Write Down explains when they apply.
Who can help?
The Office of the Worker Adviser, if you are not in a union. It is an independent agency of the Ontario government, and its service to non-unionized injured workers is free. Its number for English service is 1-800-435-8980. If you are in a union, start with your union representative. A community legal clinic is another free route.
Read next
- “My Boss Doesn't Believe Me!” | Your Employer Says Your Injury Isn't Work-Related? Here Is What Happens Next
- “Where Do I Even Start?” | Hurt at Work in Ontario Today? Do These 4 Things First
Every figure in this article comes from a named source. How we check
Last verified: October 2026.
