On July 26, 2021, Janet O’Reilly was appointed as a full-time Review Commissioner to the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Review Division for a five-year term.
The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Review Division (WHSCRD) is an independent, quasi-judicial body that considers appeals arising from decisions of WorkplaceNL. The appeals process for clients of WorkplaceNL is vital to the overall service provided to employers and to workers who sustain workplace injuries in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the final level of appeal within the workers’ compensation system.
The WHSCRD occupies an important jurisprudential role and performs a significant diversionary function in determining matters which would otherwise be heard by the Courts, placing an expectation on the review commissioner to produce written decisions that are comprehensive, unbiased, well-reasoned and complete and meet a quasi-judicial standard. Appointees to the review commissioner panel must be unbiased and must be perceived as unbiased.