Estimating Under-Claiming of Compensable Workplace Injuries in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

This study confirms and refines prior estimates of under-claiming of workers’ compensation benefits and suggests that under-claiming negatively affects the utility of workers’ compensation data in injury prevention efforts. A 2017 online poll ( N = 2,000) queried the injury and workers’ compensation experiences of Alberta workers. Approximately 21.5 percent of respondents reported at least one work-related injury in the previous 12 months, of which 41.8 percent were disabling injuries. Only 31 percent of workers with disabling injuries filed a workers’ compensation claim. Under-claiming was more common among women, non-unionized workers, and workers facing relatively fewer hazards.