Recovering After a Workplace Injury in New Brunswick: A Complete Guide

What should I do first after a workplace injury in New Brunswick?

Tell your employer, then see a doctor and say the injury happened at work. Report to WorkSafeNB rather than assuming your employer's report covers you.

Then call Advocates Services on 1-844-530-0282 and ask what they can do for you. It is free, they work for you, and the tribunal itself recommends that you appeal with an advocate rather than alone. Making that call early costs nothing and changes how the rest of this goes.

How long do I have to appeal in New Brunswick?

Two stages, and you must complete the first before the tribunal will hear you.

The seven day window is the one to watch. It applies to health and safety decisions rather than to your claim, and it is short enough that by the time you have found the right form you may already be late.

The ninety day review limit runs from the date on the decision letter rather than from when you opened it. The Decision Review Office also does not review decisions made before January 1, 2020.

Full dates and forms are on our New Brunswick WorkSafeNB appeal deadlines page.

Can I have more than one decision reviewed at once?

Yes, and this is the best feature of the New Brunswick system. You can add up to ten decisions to a single review application, provided they all relate to the same claim number.

The filing rule that catches people out

If you are appealing with the help of an advocate or a lawyer, do not file your own notice of appeal. Your representative files it on your behalf. Filing it yourself as well creates confusion in a file that is already complicated, and it is a mistake made almost entirely by people trying to be conscientious.

If you do choose to appeal without help, be ready to talk about the sections of legislation and the policies that apply to your issue, because that is the level the tribunal works at.

How long will it actually take?

Longer than the deadlines suggest. It can be several months before a hearing is even scheduled, and several months more before a written decision arrives. Plan around that rather than being blindsided by it, and keep recording symptoms and expenses throughout, because the record does not pause while you wait.

What should I be writing down?

Three things.

• Every decision you disagree with, with the date on the letter. Up to ten of them can go into one review application, so the list is worth keeping properly.
• Every symptom you reported and to whom. A symptom nobody was told about does not reach the file that the reviewer reads.
• Every conversation about your claim or your return to work. Date, who, what was said, who else was there.

Our free Resource Hub has fillable trackers for symptoms, appointments, correspondence and return to work.

Who can help me for free?

Advocates Services provides free help to workers on workers' compensation matters, from filing through to the hearing itself. Call 1-844-530-0282. There is a parallel Office of the Employers' Advocate on the other side.

The Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal is independent of both WorkSafeNB and the provincial government, and it publishes its own guidance and forms. WorkSafeNB sets out the review process and the Decision Review Office rules.

The New Brunswick Companion Guide

Our New Brunswick Workplace Injury Companion Guide carries the deadlines, forms, board names and appeal routes for this province, with fillable space for the record you build alongside them. Pair it with The Way Back National Recovery Guide.