Before You Do Anything Else

  • Don't call just to "talk it through" with no notes.
  • Don't agree to anything on the phone you don't understand.
  • Don't send a rage email you can't walk back.

Do this first:

  1. Save a copy of whatever they sent (photo, screenshot, PDF).
  2. Write the date, what they decided, and how it hits you (lost income, treatment, job).
  3. Take 10 minutes on this site to figure out what kind of bullshit it is – ignored evidence, contradictory decisions, retaliation, "our records show," etc.

You're not overreacting. You're buying yourself time to respond with strategy, not just pain.

How To Use This Toolkit

So You Don't Drown in It

This site is a lot. That's on purpose: WorkSafeBC runs on complexity. The only way to fight that is with simple tools that understand the complexity behind them.

Step 1 – Find Yourself On the Map

Start with: Start Here: Where Are You Getting Screwed? Pick the box that matches you:

  • Just injured/ new claim
  • Just got a decision/ cut-off
  • Being ignored or gaslit
  • Already in Review/ WCAT/ appeal-land

That page will point you to 2–3 tools, not the whole arsenal.

Step 2 – Don't Try to Learn Everything

You do not need:

  • Understand the entire Workers Compensation Act
  • Memorize case law
  • Become a paralegal overnight

You only need:

  • The parts that apply to your situation
  • The templates and phrases that fit your facts
  • The next few moves, not the whole chess game

Think of this toolkit as a menu, not homework.

Step 3 – Move in This Order (Most of the Time)

  1. Evidence & Documentation Center
    • Get your documents, timeline, and call logs under basic control.
    • It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to exist.
  2. Strategy & Pressure Points
    • Read through the pressure points and say: "That one. That's what they did to me."
    • Note 2–4 that really match your experience.
  3. Email & Letter Templates
    • Plug your situation and your pressure points into emails to WorkSafeBC, MLA/Minister/employer
    • Edit in your own voice, but keep the structure.
  4. WCAT Precedent Armory (when you have the bandwidth)
    • Read 1–2 cases that feel close to your situation.
    • Steal the structure: how they framed facts, applied policy, and why they won.

Step 4 – Use Small Chunks of Time

You don't have to sit down for three hours and "do your case". You can:

  • Spend 10 minutes turning a phone call into a log entry
  • Spend 15 minutes plugging your story into an email template
  • Spend 20 minutes reading one WCAT case that feels close to home

Every small chunk you do here makes the next step easier and builds a record future-you will thank you for.

Step 5 – Remember What This Site Is (and Isn't)

This toolkit is:

  • A way to turn your experience into evidence and strategy
  • A way to speak the language institutions listen to
  • A place to see patterns you are not imagining

This toolkit is not:

  • Your doctor
  • Your lawyer
  • A crisis line

You can use it alongside all of those. It's the framework underneath everything else.

Use what's useful. Ignore what isn't. Come back when the next letter drops.