Bulletin
ICBC – Estimator Workload Complaint Update
March 20, 2026
To: All MoveUP members at ICBC in Estimator and Estimator – Specialty Vehicle roles
The workload committee would like to provide an update on our activities over the past few months. We have been meeting with our Employer for nearly a year and have had to push very hard to make any progress. We have felt ignored by management, and as if they did not have any empathy for or understanding of our situation.
We have provided an abundance of documentation to management that shows the difficulties that Estimators have been facing. We have voiced your concerns about management, the high volume of daily duties, and stressed the toll this has taken on your mental health.
Progress has been much slower than we wanted, but we have finally achieved some buy in to our recommendations and will be escalating the remaining recommendations to The Senior Leadership Team as per the language in the LOU 18 of the collective agreement.
Workload Management
The below statement from Canadian Standards Association definition of workload management represents the challenges that Estimators are facing and is the reason the Workload Committee was created.
“A workplace where tasks and responsibilities can be accomplished within the time available is what we are seeking. A large workload is often described by employees as being the biggest workplace stressor (i.e. having too much to do and not enough time to do it.) It is not only the amount of work that makes a difference but also the extent to which employees have the resources (time, equipment, training, support) to do the work well.
If employees do not believe they have a voice in the affairs of the organization, they tend to feel a sense of indifference, or helplessness. Job alienation or non-involvement is associated with cynicism and distress, greater turnover and burnout.”
The Operation Leadership team has agreed to the following recommendations from your Workload committee:
a) Bring the following suggestions forward to Mitchell:
- BC listings unless no available BC ads, then expand to out‑of‑province
- Removing sub‑model searches and adjusting parameters accordingly
b) Manual valuations within earned authority without seeking additional approval
c) Creation of how‑to job aids – Management will work with the Estimator workload committee to explore and develop helpful job aids.
To see Joanne Thornley, Senior Manager, Customer Claims Operations response in full, click here.
Recommendations not accepted by Operations Leadership Team
LOU18 of the collective agreement allows for the workload committee to recommend that the Corporation develop workload volume standards where they don’t exist.
We know that ICBC has conducted time studies in the past, but they are unwilling to conduct an updated one now.
They also do not wish to enter into discussions with the committee on setting volume standards and have referred that to the bargaining table. We will be escalating this recommendation to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) as we believe that discussions can occur in both forums.
What can you do?
We ask everyone to continue to do the work as normal, but do not allow the managers to push you into doing more than there is time in the day or working unpaid hours. Take your breaks as it is vital to your physical and mental health.
If you feel pressured, bullied, harassed, or threatened with performance management initiatives such as structured plans or 5.03 Performance Improvement Plans, please bring forward your concerns to the Workload Coordinator and applicable Union Representative for your location.
What’s next?
Your committee will be escalating recommendations to Alden Li, Sr. Director, Claims Material Damage for his response. If your committee is not satisfied with said response, we have the ability to escalate the matter to the joint consultation committee which includes representatives from the Union, Employee Relations, and someone with oversight to workload/staffing models from Operations.
If you have any comments, concerns or suggestions, please reach out to Missy Besanger, Workload Coordinator, at wlcoordinator@moveuptogether.ca. Your comments will be shared with the Estimator workload committee and the designated Union Representative, Sara Colliss.
In solidarity,
Tarn Purewal, Chair, Estimator Workload Committee
Justin Marshall, Committee Member
Chris Vriend, Committee Member
Lawrence Naidu, Committee Member
Missy Besanger, Workload Coordinator
Dimitri Ossinsky, Vice-President, ICBC
Sara Colliss, Union Representative