Bulletin
ICBC – SSRS Workload Committee Update
August 19, 2025
To: All MoveUP members at ICBC in Senior Support and Recovery Specialists roles
We share the following update on our workload committee meetings for the SSRS workload complaint:
Committee Background:
We formed this committee after a group workload complaint was filed last year. The committee includes 4 SSRSs (union committee members), 4 recovery managers (management committee members), and 2 non-voting members (an HR representative and the Workload Coordinator, Missy Besanger). We began meeting in late March and reconvene every 3-4 weeks. Our recommendations are not legally binding, but there is an escalation process in LOU18 should it be needed.
Relief Team Coverage:
Our first priority addressed Relief Team staffing that primarily concerns SPOC as well as SSRS that are in regular intake. Prior to SPOC, we had 3 Relief Teams that provided coverage for absences. They were reduced to 2 teams after the announcement of SPOC.
SPOC is a segmentation mechanism where SSRS units are divided into specialised groups that handle claims that are 0-4 months old, 4-18 months old, and 18+ months old. The teams are frontloaded. Each Operations unit has four 0-4 teams, two 4-18 teams, and one 18+ team. Due to the size of the 18+ teams, they could be handling 2-3 times the files a 0-4 team SSRS would.
After SPOC was implemented on 2 Operations units with about 70 SSRS, we learnt that SPOC teams would not receive any Relief Team coverage during absences and teams are grouped into pods of 2 to cover each other.
We proposed expanding the Relief Team and extending coverage to SPOC. We provided statistics from external consultants hired by ICBC on current coverage gaps for planned and unplanned absences and the survey results from SSRS that support on-going coverage from the Relief Team.
Management committee members rejected this proposal, but subsequently provided limited SPOC coverage for some absence with no additional Relief team members and offered to reconsider this recommendation. Management committee members advised us that they are tracking Relief team statistics to determine future coverage needs.
Additional Recommendation:
We made an additional recommendation on claim segmentation based on file complexity.
- Claims within Restore are of various complexities. The current system in which we mainly track caseload by number of open exposures do not accurately reflect the complexity of certain files.
- A treatment-only file with pending PIB scarring payment has 2 open exposures.
- A disability claim with IRB payments, ADL benefits, and a loss of studies entitlement also has 2 open exposures.
- One file will take significantly less time to handle than the other.
- We wanted a better way to track the workload and use a scoring system to track “complexity factors” of each claim and achieve more equitable file distribution
- The proposal was voted down by Management Committee Members
Ongoing Discussion:
Administrative Workload Reduction
We proposed several administrative improvements and the management committee members are actively working with us to find a solution:
- Streamline physiotherapy treatment plan submissions (link CL752 forms to treatment plans, reduce payment failures)
- Delegate mileage reimbursement activity review and calculation entirely to the claims admin
- Alphabetize activity queue lists
- Create comprehensive CL forms reference list
- Ability to significantly modify template letters to fit the specifics of the claim
Progress:
The discussions during the meetings were contentious at times, but we have found common ground and a way to work together. Management committee members have expressed interest in additional suggestions.
Future Meetings:
We plan to address:
- HDP file ownership when the customer is hospitalised and hand-off procedures
- Additional Relief Team coverage concerns
- Improvements to SPOC and more equitable caseload distribution
- Statistics on Segmentation model’s effectiveness
- Additional reimbursement process improvements
Your Input Needed:
The Workload Committee welcomes your feedback and will be happy to review any suggestions SSRS have for reducing our current workload. Please send your ideas and suggestions to wlcoordinator@moveuptogether.ca
We thank you for your patience and input. We will aim to provide regular updates as we work collaboratively with management on current and future workload issues.
In solidarity,
Jackie Manola, Workload Committee member
Grimmsley Feng, Workload Committee chair
Paul Dournovo, Workload Committee member
Niamh Cosman, Workload Committee member
Missy Besanger, Workload Coordinator
Dimitri Ossinsky, Vice-President
Sara Colliss, Union Representative