Further Evidence on the “Monday Effect” in Workers' Compensation

Abstract

An analysis of data from the Workers' Compensation Board of Ontario reveals evidence of a “Monday effect”—more workers' compensation claims on Mondays than on other days, especially for back injuries and sprains/strains—similar in magnitude to that found in U.S. studies. Because Canadians, unlike most Americans, have universal health care, this similarity across the studies' core results disfavors the hypothesis that workers post-date weekend injuries in order to obtain medical care via workers' compensation insurance. A second moral hazard explanation that is not ruled out, however, is that some workers represent non-work-related injuries as work-related in order to exploit the earnings loss indemnification provided by workers' compensation. Finally, the results are not inconsistent with the strictly physiology-based hypothesis that time off during weekends and holidays simply makes workers more susceptible to injuries of all types, but especially back injuries and sprains and strains.