This story was shared through the City in Colour's project, "Safer WorkPlaces: Racialized Immigrant Women Experience of WorkPlace Health and Safety".

Animation and design: Alejandra Villanueva

Photography: Natalia Botero

A Latin American immigrant woman with a background in administrative jobs, experienced an injury but did not receive any accommodation at her work in the childcare sector. Neither did she receive the support expected from the WSBC staff as described in her story:

Safety at WorkSafe BC?

It was August 2021 when Liz managed to build a new career path in the after-school care program sector. After arriving in Canada in September 2019 with her family, she and her husband wanted to give their sons and daughter a better and secure life in Canada. She was enjoying her job and had an incredible supervisor and a friendly workmate but sadly, things changed. The non-profit organization that she was working for, asked employees to start lifting tasks that were not included in the original job description.

As Liz had never heard about the Employment Standards Act or Occupational Health and Safety or WorkSafe BC, she did not know that she had the right to refuse the additional tasks, not included in her job description. In July 2022, in fear of being laid off, she continued doing the lifting tasks that included lifting heavy wooden chairs above tables. This coincided with her recovery from an injury in her right wrist. As a result, she had severe pain in her back and right knee. Her family doctor sent her to start physiotherapy and advised her to ask her employer to inform WorkSafe BC about this work injury.

After asking the employer to inform WorkSafe BC and continuing the therapy, she started recovering from her back and knee pain. She could take some time off from work (medical leave).

Meanwhile, with the new school year starting, she requested her family doctor if she could be granted a bit more time off work and wait until full recovery before going back to work. The doctor, however, asked her to go back to work and rather request workplace accommodation on the grounds of her limited ability to walk.

Despite Liz informing the new supervisor about her health problem and asking for the advised change in her job duties, the request was denied. The supervisor did not accept or approve any change and told her that if she missed work or needed time off work, the organization would deduct the hours from her payroll. Feeling perplexed and not knowing what to do, Liz asked for assistance from her family doctor, but this time he told her he was sorry – he wouldn’t be able to help. In short, at the end of October 2022, as Liz could not receive job duty accommodation and had to walk a long distance doing her work, her right knee and back started hurting a lot, and she was in terrible pain.

She went to the hospital for pain relief, but she could not find it. She and her husband were so worried that they preferred to pay for a private MRI for the knee rather than wait four to six months for the publicly funded MRI. Additionally, in the middle of this pain, Liz received a phone call from her WorkSafe BC WorkSafe-BC case manager telling her that she would be covered for her back pain only, but not for the knee pain. Liz tried to understand what happened, but her case manager did not explain anything and treated her as if she wanted to take advantage of the system when Liz did not even know her employment rights.....Her case manager was so rude, she did not offer Liz even a little empathy or care.

It was so sad not to receive even a little respect from another woman! Liz was struggling to understand what was happening. She remembered being in deep pain when she got a call from WorkSafe BC. A woman on the line asked her: where exactly was the pain? What kind of pain was it? But Liz didn’t know the medical terms. She was hurting, confused, and scared. She tried to explain, but her words didn’t come out the “right” way. She felt small, like her pain wasn’t being heard or understood.

It was devastating for Liz to realize that, as an immigrant woman, she couldn’t even count on other women at WorkSafe BC for support or guidance. She had hoped for understanding—for someone to see her pain and help her through it. But instead, she was met with coldness, as if her struggles didn’t matter. That kind of disappointment cuts deep, especially when it comes from someone you thought might relate or care.